The Juubi's Decision
by Crippleshot13
Summary: It was time to put Shikaku's final plan into action. Naruto tried to convince the Juubi that it should side with them, and not Obito and Madara. However, the plan backfires, and Naruto dies. His death causes Sakura to realize that she wasn't lying to Naruto in the Land of Iron. But and unexpected event takes place that could change the tide of the war. (After Newest Chapter: 614)
1. Chapter 1

**Heh hey everyone! How's it goin'? Crippleshot13 here and I'm back with a new fic! Just to clarify, this fic is a request I received from Mathew1998. I want to give a shout out and thank him for his confidence in me to write this fic! I promise, I'll do my very best to make it the best it can be! Also I recently came out with my latest fic called "Naruto's Pain and Sakura's Comfort." If you haven't already, it would be awesome if you guys could read it and let me know how I did! I want to get as much feedback as possible so I can continue to improve my writing. Anyway, here we go! This one goes out to Mathew1998! I hope you, and everyone else enjoys it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything affiliated with the series. It all belongs to ****Kishimoto-san**

**Key: **_Italics: _**Speaking in someones mind**

** _Bold Italics: _Naruto and Kurama speaking telepathically**

** Bold: Naruto. Kurama, and Juubi speaking**

**OK! ON TO THE STORY!**

**The Juubi's Decision**

* * *

"I thought you weren't going to let me kill a single one of your comrades. Naruto." Said Obito from atop the Juubi's head.

Naruto stared at him sternly. Holding the lifeless body of Neji Huga in his arms. He had given his life to protect Naruto from an incoming barrage of the piercing wood jutsu. Tears threatened to spill from Naruto's eyes. While next to him, Hinata started to cry. Naruto spoke to Hinata but did not turn to face her.

"Hinata. Take Neji away from here. I'll handle this."

Hinata turned to him shocked. "B-but Naruto…you can't do this alone." She said to him.

"I have to. I'm grateful for you trying to protect me, but…I will not allow any more of my friends to die." He said in a determined voice.

His gaze did not shift from Obito. Who stared at him with his eye combination of the Sharingan and Rinnegan. Kakashi was watching Naruto and smiled beneath his mask.

"Ha. And I thought I was the copycat." He said whispering to himself, as he remembered saying something very similar while on their first real mission after confronting Zabuza.

Naruto spoke to Hinata once again. "Hinata, please. Take him and go. I'm going to go ahead with the plan." He said to her.

Hinata suddenly remembered what they were supposed to be doing. She hesitated still for a few seconds, but finally spoke.

"Ok Naruto. But please. Be careful." She told him, while taking Neji and fleeing towards the back of the fight.

Naruto slowly stood. He looked from Obito, to Madara, to the Juubi. "Alright. Time to put the plan into action." He said.

Meanwhile, Hinata had successfully brought Neji to the back lines. She located Sakura right away and brought Neji to her.

"Sakura…is there anything that can be done for him? Hinata asked, her voice cracking from the sadness.

Fresh tears had started falling down her face. Sakura looked him over and scanned him with her chakra. Her face turned downcast and she withdrew her hand and placed it at her side. The green chakra dissipating as she did so.

"I'm so sorry Hinta. It's too late. There's nothing that can be done. The attack hit too many vital organs." She said in a sorrowful voice.

This caused Hinata to break down. She put her hands to her face and started to sob. Sakura put her hand on her shoulders to console the girl. She looked at her. She felt so sorry for her. But she couldn't lie. It's true. There was nothing she could do for him. He was already gone. She looked up at Naruto who was preparing his strategy against the juubi, and its handlers.

"_Naruto…please be careful."_ She said in her mind.

Naruto prepared to start the plan. "_**Hey Kurama? You there**_?" Naruto asked telepathically.

"_**Yes Naruto. What is it? I can't lend you more chakra yet. I haven't regained enough." **_Kurama replied

"_**That's alright. That's not what I need right now. I need you to transport me into the Juubi's mind. Like you did with Son, the four tails." **_Naruto stated.

"_**Are you mad? You'll get yourself killed! The Juubi isn't like one of us Naruto! It has no feelings or emotions of its own! Its sole purpose is to destroy!**_ Kurama said, rejecting his idea.

"_**I have to try. The fate of the world rests on this one last plan. It was concocted by Shikaku, Shikamaru's dad. If he had confidence in this plan, then so do I! **_Naruto retorted.

Kurama stayed silent. He understood what Naruto was saying. But he didn't know if they should risk it. Naruto spoke to him again.

"_**Please Kurama…This was his final plan. His final wish for us to save the world. I can't abandon it. Or else it would be like spitting on his good name." **_Naruto begged.

Kurama still didn't reply to Naruto. But Naruto tried again.

"_**Kurama…You know I'm the only one who can do this. And so did Shikaku. Somehow, I was able to create a bond with all the other Biju. I got them to trust me. That's why this plan is entirely up to me. That's why I'm the only one capable of pulling this off. If I don't try, it's saying goodbye to all our hopes of winning this war and saving the world." **_Naruto said, trying to convince the Kyuubi.

Kurama stayed silent once more. Until, "_**…Alright Naruto. I'll do it. But if it gets too dangerous, I'm pulling you out of there. Understood?" **_He commanded.

"_**You got it!" **_He agreed. "_**And thank you." **_

"_**Heh…no problem. Don't die on me in there."**_

"_**You can bet I won't." **_He said reassuring his partner.

"_**Ok. Get ready! I'm sending you in now!" **_Kurama said.

* * *

Naruto closed his eyes. He heard nothing after a few seconds. No noise or anything. He knew at that point that Kurama had successfully transported him into the Juubi's mind. He slowly opened his eyes. He was stunned at what he saw. There was no ground. He was floating in midair. The surrounding space was nothing but a bunch of dark colors. A dark red, black, purple, grey, all swirling around him in random patterns. The colors were melded together and it created a dark atmosphere. Naruto opened the telepathic link with the Kyuubi again.

"_**Hey Kurama? Are you still there?" **_Naruto questioned.

There was no response.

"_**Kurama?" **_Naruto asked, trying to reach him again.

There was silence again at first, but then Kurama responded to him.

"_**Yes Naruto. I'm here. It seems we were successful in getting in." **_Kurama pointed out.

"_**Yeah…but what's with this place." **_He asked.

"_**I told you before. The Juubi is a being of no emotion and destruction. No physical object matters to him. His world is a free space of nothingness." **_Kurama explained.

"_**That's…sad." **_Naruto said. His expression falling to a saddened one.

"**Who are you? How did you get in here?" **A dark and menacing voice sounded from behind Naruto. Although it did not seem to possess any feeling behind its words.

Naruto recovered from his daze and spun around. A dark shadow was towering above him. A bolt of lightning flashed across the void revealing the form of the Juubi staring down at Naruto with its eye. The combined eye of the Rinnegan and the Sharingan. Naruto was shocked by its appearance and floated back a little in surprise. But he quickly regained his composure. He stared back up at the Juubi with determination in his eyes. The Juubi then spoke to him again.

"**I'll ask you again. Who are you?" **The Juubi repeated himself.

Naruto continued to stare at the Juubi, and then spoke. "**My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I am the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox Kurama. He set up a link between your mind, and my mind so that I could speak with you." **Naruto answered.

"**And what is it that you want to speak to me about? Be warned. If I do not like your answer, I will kill you." **The Juubi threatened. Although it did not hold feeling behind its threat either.

"**I want to ask you why you are causing so much destruction. Why you're letting Obito and Madara Uchiha control you."** Naruto said bluntly.

"**Why am I causing so much destruction?" **The Juubi laughed. "**Because it is in my nature. As for being controlled, I'm only toying with those two. I could break free at any time now. They may have the power of the Senju, but it isn't enough to contain me. The only reason I don't break free, is because I'm enjoying myself crushing the ones who stand against me outside of this world." **The Juubi responded, also bluntly.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and stared at the Juubi. He didn't speak. Only stared. The Juubi got impatient waiting for him to say something.

"**Why do you not speak? Naruto Uzumaki?" **The Juubi asked.

"**You're lying."** Naruto stated.

"**What was that?" **The Juubi questioned.

"**I know they are able to control you. If you were able to break free so easily, you would have already done it and attacked them as well by now."** Naruto said.

The Juubi was silent. He eyed Naruto**. **He then spoke. "**…Very perceptive. You're smarter than I gave you credit for." **The Juubi complimented. "**Yes. It is true. They are able to control me. For the moment. As time goes on, I grow stronger and their control weakens. But what is your point. Speak, Naruto Uzumaki!" **The Juubi commanded.

"**My point is, you shouldn't let them control you. I want to help you. But I also want you to stop attacking all those people. "** Naruto stated, getting straight to the point.

"**HAHAHA! YOU want to help ME?! Don't make me laugh! Oh wait…too late! HAHAHA!" **Juubi roared in laughter at Naruto's comment. "**Why in the hell would you want to help me? So you can just attempt to control me as well? I ANSWER TO NO HUMAN! I am a being whose sole purpose to cause destruction! I am only doing what I was meant to do!" **The Juubi retorted.

Naruto was shocked at the Juubi's sudden change in personality. The Juubi noticed this.

"**Oh come now. Did you honestly think I held no feeling or emotion? I am a being of destruction! I take great pleasure is causing mayhem! Last I checked, Taking pleasure in something counted as feeling." **The Juubi explained himself.

Naruto was still stunned. Kurama had been wrong. The Juubi did have emotion. This surprised Kurama more even than it did Naruto. Still, Naruto regained his composure and answered the Juubi's previous question.

"**I don't want to control you at all. I feel like none of the Biju should be controlled. You are your own being. It's not right for you to be held captive by another. As for your purpose. I wonder about that." **

The Juubi stared at Naruto. He seemed confused by his words. **"And just what do you mean by, you wonder about that?"**

"**I mean, is that really why you are on this Earth?" **Naruto asked.

The Juubi seemed to be confused even more now. "**Get to the point boy. You try my patience." **The Juubi commanded.

"**You were sealed away by the Sage of Six Paths and then you were split into the nine tailed beasts. Correct?"**

The Juubi seemed to be angered by the mention of the Sage. "**Don't remind me. I have always hated him for that." **The Juubi spat.

"**But that's just the thing. You may have been separated into nine different forms, but they were still a part of you. They were created from you. Yet, they all were friends with the Sage. He treated them like they were their own being. With their own feelings and ideals. He didn't view them as monsters. He only did what he did to you because you were causing so much pain. But I'm sure he saw you as your own being too. The only reason he sealed you away was because he knew you wouldn't listen to reason. I'm sure he didn't want to do that to you. It must have hurt him, a man who only wanted to spread peace throughout the world, to have to go to such lengths to take away your freedom. The nine tailed beasts he created that understood that. So deep down, you had to have felt it too." **Naruto said, trying to reason with the Juubi.

"**Naruto speaks the truth." **Came Kurama's voice.

Naruto was surprised to hear Kurama speak, and to see him appear next to him.

"**The Sage of Six Paths, my creator, did not want things to be this way. He spoke to the nine of us after we were created and told us that we were not monsters. But we were brothers. And that even if we were separated, we would still be connected. We knew no hate and saw no ulterior motives in his words. It was I…who created hate between us…after he died…I used to think I was the strongest because I had the most tails. I tried to forcefully make myself the leader of our group. The others didn't take well to my reasoning, and I alone caused the shift in our relationship. They sought to prove their worth and power because I belittled them. It was not because it was in our nature. But because I MADE it a part of our nature. I see now what I fool I was. I am no more powerful than they are. We are all equals. That is what our creator taught us before his passing. And I turned a blind eye to those teachings. I regret what I have done, and that is why I will do whatever it takes to make up for my past mistakes." **

"**Kurama…" **Naruto said to himself.

Naruto smiled at Kurama's words. He really had changed since Naruto first knew him. Hearing what his partner said made Naruto even more confident in his words.

"…**Very well. I'll humor you for the moment. Say all of this is true. Then what is my true purpose on this planet?" **The Juubi asked.

"**Think about it Juubi. If the world was created to be inhabited by humans and other creatures a like, then why would one creature, you, be created to destroy it? I feel as though you were created to protect this world. With all the power you possess, you could easily stand up to anything. Including a threat to the planet. I think the Sage of Six Paths thought that too. That's why, when he split you into the nine tailed beasts, he preached to them to stay together and stay strong. Not just to protect one another, but to protect the world around them as well. Yes, you chose the path of destruction, but that's because you had that choice in the first place. Although, I think it was the opposite choice of what was intended of you. You had the freedom to choose your path. You are your own being. You are not weighed down by others to do their bidding. You can stop all this and fight to protect this world instead of enjoy it. Right now, Obito and Madara are trying to seal you inside one of them to control your power. So they can control the world. But that isn't something they should get to decide. You can fight with us to protect this world from them. Please Juubi. You have to believe me! This is the right thing to do!" **Naruto pleaded.

Kurama was proud of Naruto. He really had grown up. He had become wiser and he believed that he really could change the Juubi's views.

"…**I've heard enough."** The Juubi spoke.

"**Huh?" **Naruto questioned.

Suddenly, a black fog appeared and it started to engulf Naruto and the Nine Tails.

"**SHIT! NARUTO! IT DIDN'T WORK! HE'S TRYING TO KILL US! WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!" **Kurama yelled to Naruto.

"**NO! I WON'T LEAVE!" **Naruto shouted back.

This took Kurama by surprise. "**WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? NARUTO THIS IS NO TIME TO BE FOOLISH! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?"**

"**NO! I STILL BELIEVE IN THE JUUBI! I WON'T TURN BACK NOW! **

"**NARU-GAH!" **

Kurama wasn't able to finish. The black fog had already almost completely engulfed him. He could no longer see Naruto anymore.

"**Damnit…"** Kurama cursed, before everything turned black.

* * *

(Back in the outside world)

All the action head ceased. The Juubi was still and not attacking. Madara and Obito were confused and didn't know what the Juubi wasn't responding to their commands anymore. The rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces had stopped making moves as well. They knew that Naruto had put the plan into action, and as per Shikaku's final orders, remained patient to see the outcome of his last strategy.

"What's going on? Did we finally lose control of the Juubi?" Obito asked Madara.

"No. If that were the case it would have run rampant by now. No…something else is going on here…but what? Madara questioned. "What's more concerning is, why have the other shinobi not taken this opportunity to attack. They know something we don't." Madara stated, assessing the situation to the best of his knowledge.

"Do you think it's possible they found a way to stop the Juubi's movements?" Obitio questioned.

"I don't think so. If the two of us combined could not control it for long, there's no way these weaklings could." Madara responded.

Suddenly, Naruto coughed up blood. Everyone was shocked at the sudden change. Naruto began to fall backwards and collapsed to the ground. There was silence for a moment. Then Sakura was the one to break it.

"NARUTO!" She screamed.

"No…did he fail? Kakashi said to no one in particular.

Sakura ran towards Naruto, while Shikamaru, Kakashi, the rest of the rookie nine, and all the other shinobi in the Allied Forces watched on in horror. Sakura came to a sliding halt as she reached where Naruto had fallen. She checked his pulse and a look of terror plagued her face.

"No….this can't be…" She said weakly. "NOOO! NARUTO! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD!"

The rest of the shinobi gasped. They all couldn't believe it. Their last shot at winning this war was gone. Naruto was dead.

"No…Naruto…you…this can't be happening…" Hinata said in disbelief. She started to cry

"…Is it really true? Is he really gone? Kakashi whispered to himself, ready to break down.

"This is…impossible…Naruto can't die…we need him." Kiba said.

"Naruto…I'm so sorry." Shikamaru said sorrowfully.

The rest remained speechless. They couldn't find the words to express what they were thinking. Meanwhile, Sakura was bent over, her face buried in Naruto's chest sobbing.

"Hmm…well it seems we didn't have to lift a finger to kill him. He died on his own." Madara stated uncaring.

"It would seem so." Obito said. He stared at Naruto's lifeless body. "This just proves my point. There is truly…no hope, in this world." He stated in an indifferent voice.

Sakura was still crying on Naruto's chest. "Naruto! Please! You can't die now! We need you!...I…I need you." She whispered the last part.

Flashbacks played through Sakura's mind. She remembered the times when they were genin on Team 7. She remembered all the times she rejected each of Naruto's date requests. How horrible she treated him for trying to interfere with her love for Sasuke. How he was always there when she needed somebody. When she needed protecting. Even after Sasuke had left the village, he had put aside his feelings for her and promised to bring him back to the village. All so she could be happy. She then remembered all the recent times they had together. Going on missions with the new Team 7, with Sai and Captain Yamato. How she was scarred for Naruto after she saw him turn into a miniature version of the Kyuubi, to take on Orochimaru. How desperately she wanted to be able to help him control himself after that. How scarred she was when Sasuke almost killed him when they found him in Orochimaru's lair. She then focused on the recent memories. When Sai told her about how Naruto couldn't tell her how he really felt because he couldn't keep his promise, to when she found him in the Land of Snow. How she lied about her feelings for him so she could take on the burden for him of killing Sasuke. And when she couldn't do it, and Sasuke was about to cut her down, he came to her rescue again. That's when she realized. All the things he had done for her, he had done out of love. And she found that when looking back on it, when she confessed to him in the Land of Snow, she wasn't lying. It had been true. It took her all this time to realize it, but she did love him. All this time, Naruto did so much for her, and it finally got through to her that Naruto was the one she wanted. Not Sasuke. It was Naruto. This caused her to cry even more now. She would never get to tell him now that she truly did love him. She would never get to go on dates with him, she would never get to kiss him, and she would never get to be with him.

"Oh Naruto…I'm so sorry. I was so blind. It took me all this time…but I love you. I love you so much! And now you're gone. And I'll never get to be with you." She said in between sobs.

She collapsed her head into his chest again and cried even harder than before. Suddenly she felt an pulse of energy come from him. Her head shot up and she looked at him. Another pulse of energy shot out from him.

"Is it…is it possible?" She asked herself.

She quickly checked his pulse. It was there, and his heart was beating. She suddenly felt an enormous amount of chakra inside him.

"Wha-what is this chakra!?" She said surprised. "He…HE'S ALIVE! NARUTO'S ALIVE!" She shouted.

Everyone, including Madara and Obito, were taken by surprise at Sakura's statement.

"Impossible!" Obito spat. "She just said he was dead! He had no pulse!"

"Calm yourself Obito. Even if he is alive, it doesn't matter. He is still just as weak as the rest of them." Madara stated.

Obito calmed himself. "Yes. You're right."

Suddenly, the Juubi came to life once more. It roared and started to shake violently. Obito and Madara were hanging on for dear life. The only thing keeping them attached being the Senju cells they had implanted in the Juubi's head.

"What the hell is going on!?" Obito asked, shock in his voice.

"I don't know! I think we've lost control!" Madara stated back.

"Impossible! We still had plenty of control over it before!

They both looked down to where Naruto was to see him standing and staring at them. His eyes showing that he was in sage mode. Sakura was on her knees next to him, looking up at him in disbelief.

"_**Naruto Uzumaki…I have chosen to believe in your words." **_The Juubi spoke in Naruto's mind.

"_**Thank you, Juubi. I promise I won't betray your trust." **_Naruto said in his head, thanking the Juubi.

"_**You did well kit. I should have believed in you more." **_Kurama said, praising Naruto.

"_**It's ok. You don't need to apologize. I can understand why you panicked."**_Naruto said to the Kyuubi.

"_**Naruto, take my power and use it well. Protect this world and everyone in it." **_The Juubi said to him

Suddenly, The Juubi began to glow in a white light that covered all its features except its silhouette. Madara and Obito panicked and jumped off the Juubi, afraid of what might happen if they stayed. Then, it split into the seven Biju it had absorbed to become whole once again. They all floated in midair.

"WHAT!? WHAT IS THiS!? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE JUUBI!?" Obito yelled.

"What happened was, he was tired of being controlled by you two, and decided to use his power to help put a stop to you." Naruto said, responding to Obito.

"WHAT? IMPOSSIBLE! HOW DO YOU KN-" Obito stopped and realization struck him.

"You…You were able to communicate with the Juubi in its own world. That's why you, the Juubi, and the rest of the Allied Forces ceased your attacks." Madara deduced.

Naruto simply nodded.

"And you were somehow able to convince it to change sides and ally itself with you." Obito finished.

"Correct." Naruto said.

"Damn you…DAMN YOU! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING! THE MOON'S EYE PLAN CAN'T TAKE PLACE WITHOUT THE JUUBI! Obito shouted losing control of himself.

"I know. And that's as it should be. There was no way I was going to let you get away with your sick and twisted ambition" Naruto said coldly.

Obito growled at him. Madara kept his composure and wore his usual unimpressed expression. Sakura continued to stare at Naruto. He looked down at her and smiled softly.

"Thank you, Sakura. I heard everything you said." Naruto told her.

He knelt down and wrapped her in a tight hug. She was taken by surprise, but hugged him back. Not wanting to let go.

"I love you." She said to him in a whisper.

"I love you too." He said back to her. "Now go back with everyone else. It's going to get dangerous now, and I don't want you getting hurt." He told her.

She wanted to object, but she knew she would only get in the way at this point. She nodded and he released her from the hug. She went back to the rest of the group as he instructed and looked back at him. He had his back turned to her now. She smiled a little at him.

"_Go get em' Naruto!" _She cheered for him inside her thoughts.

Naruto stood silently, staring the two in front of him down. Obito looked like he was about to lose it and go berserk, while Madara was the same as ever.

"Naruto!" Came a familiar voice from above him.

He looked up and saw that the Four Tails, Son Goku was speaking to him.

"You've done well. Now let us help you. It's time we put an end to all this fighting." Son said to him.

Naruto smiled at him and nodded. "Alright, let's do it!" Naruto said.

The Biju started to glow and a ray of light shot up from each of them, one at a time. They all converged in air and shot down towards Naruto. It hit him dead on and created a gust of wind that caused everyone around to brace themselves. Even Madara couldn't withstand the pressure. When the light disappeared, Naruto was still standing. He looked unchanged. After the light disappeared, all the Biju turned into a ray of light, and shot in different directions.

"It's time we finished this. Your plans are shot and you have no hope of winning now." Naruto said.

"Screw you! Even without the Juubi, the two of us are still far more powerful than you and the rest of those shinobi combined." Obito spat.

"That may be true. But, how much of a chance do you think you'll stand against all nine Jinchuriki? Said a familiar gravelly voice.

"What?" Obito asked confused.

Just then, seven forms appeared from all different directions. Garra stood at the front, while the remaining six Jinchuriki stood behind him. They had all been revived. Bee joined them and stood next to Garra. He was smiling and looked confident.

"No…this isn't possible! HOW ARE YOU ALL ALIVE!?" Obito shouted, panicking.

"The Biju returned to our bodies and brought those of us who were dead, back to life." Garra spoke, explaining the situation.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Obito yelled.

"Nothing is impossible when there is still hope in this world." Naruto spoke.

Obito shot his head towards Naruto. Naruto had his eyes closed now.

"And that hope…" Naruto's closed eyes were all that could be seen now. He opened them to reveal the Triagan. A combination of the Rinnegan, Sharingan, and Byakugan. "Is what is going to put a stop to you, once and for all."

It zoomed out to reveal him, and the other Biju standing not too far behind him, ready for battle.

**To be continued**

* * *

**A/N: So…tired =.=…but I had so much fun writing this, that I refused to stop until I finished the chapter. But fear not! I will have the next chapter written and uploaded very soon! Once again, I want to thank Mathew1998 for choosing me to write this fic. I'm having a blast doing it, and I can't wait to finish the next chapter! As always, please review so I can use the feedback for the next chapter! Until then, CYA!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Heh hey! How's it goin' everyone? Crippleshot13 here and I'm finally back with a new chapter! I want to apologize for taking so long with writing it. I've been so busy recently that I haven't had time to write anything, much less use my computer. BUT! Now I'm back and ready to write some more! I'm pretty sure you're ready to read so let's get to the new chapter! **

**The Final Battle Begins**

Naruto stared down Obito and Madara with his new Dojustsu, the Triagan. Obito was furious to say the least. You could hear his teeth grinding against each other. Madara kept his normal composure, but even he knew the upcoming battle would be difficult without the Juubi. Especially now that they had to face all nine revived Jinchuriki with control over their respective Biju again. What's worse is the ones who used to be under their control, still retained their one Sharingan and Rinnegan eye. Still, even with the odds against the two, Madara remained confident.

"It matters little that the Jinchuriki have regained possesion of their Biju. We still far outclass them." Madara said cooly.

Obito turned to face Madara. He was shocked to hear that.

"Are you insane? I know we're strong, but look at this!" Obito says while pointing to Naurto and the other Jinchuriki. "There's no way we can win now! We have no hope of winning!" Obito shouted.

"Hope..." Naruto said.

Obito looked over to Naruto. "What?"

"You said...you have no hope of winning..." Naruto began. "But wasn't it you, who said that there is no such thing as hope? That the concept of hope is nothing more than to give up?" Naruto asked Obito.

Obito became filled with rage. He charged at Naruto and drew a Kunai. "DON'T YOU DARE USE MY OWN WORDS AGAINST ME YOU BRAT!" Obito shouted towards Naruto

He lunged himself towards Naruto, his Kunai aiming for his chest, but his attack was blocked by a second kunai. Although, the hand that held the second kunai didn't belong to Naruto.

"Your fight is not with him Obito." Obito stared in shock and anger at the one who blocked his attack. "Your fight...is with me!" Kakashi's Sharingan blazed with anger towards its former owner.

"Damn you Kakashi! Get out of my way! I have no interest in fighting you right now!" Obito said to him.

"Well that's too bad. Because you're not getting anywhere near Naruto until you fight me!" Kakashi retorted.

Obito growled at his former teammate. His eyes filled with hatred towards him.

"Fine. If you want to die so badly, I'll gladly grant your wish!" Obito yelled at him.

"Alright. But if we're going to fight, it's not going to be here. This is between you and me and I'm not dragging anyone else into this." Kakashi stated.

"Whatever. I could care less where we fought. Wherever you choose, you'll be choosing your grave sight."

"We'll see about that. Follow me."

Kakashi dashed off in a direction away from the main battle field. Naruto could see where they were headed because of the Byakugan portion of his new Dojustsu. He silently wished his sensei good luck with his fight.

"That Obito..." Naruto refocused his attention to the man speaking before him. "He let his emotions cloud his judgement. And now he's allowed us to be separated...he has no chance of survival now." Madara stated with no emotion.

Naruto only stared at him. His arms crossed like they would be in his sage mode.

"Well...no matter. I'm perfectly capable of handling you all myself." Madara said confidently.

Naruto was silent once more, but then spoke. "Listen up everyone! He's too dangerous for you to handle! Even with the combined numbers we have! It's best you leave him to the nine of us! We're the only ones strong enough to take him on!" He commanded, directing his speech to the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Although he never turned to face them, he knew they all complied with his order from the lack of objections. The rookie nine (eight without Sasuke) didn't say anything, but they all believed Naruto was going to win. Hinata, still by her late cousin's side, prayed for Naruto's safty. As did Sakura; who looked at Naruto with even more admiration than she ever had before.

"Ok. Are you guys ready to finish this fight?" Naruto asked the eight Jinchuriki standing behind him.

"READY!" They all said at the same time; except for Bee who added "Fool! Ya fool!" to the end of his statement.

"Gaara, you're the general. Give the order." Naruto stated towards his friend.

Gaara nodded. "Alright...ATTACK!" He said forcefully.

The eight Jinchuriki jumped from behind Naruto and flew towards Madara all at once. Naruto stood behind and watched as his fellow Jinchuriki charged his most formidable foe ever. Madara didn't even acknowledge their presence. He was caught in a staring contest with Naruto. The eight Jinchuriki were closing in on him ready to strike.

"This won't be enough." Is all Madara said.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Obito were staring each other down. They were a good distance away from the main battle field now. There was nothing to distract them. That is, until they heard a loud booming sound coming from the direction that Madara and the others were located.

"Seems like they've already begun." Kakashi said.

Obito was silent. He didn't take his eyes off of Kakashi.

"What? You not in the mood to talk, old friend? Kakashi tried again.

"I told you before I have nothing to say to you." Obito said coldly.

"I see...And you have good reason not to...I'm sorry." Kakashi apologized.

"For what?" Obito asked uninterested in his apology.

"I promised I would keep her safe. But I didn't..."

"I know. You killed her. I saw it." Obito replied with the same uninterest.

Kakashi looked shocked. "You saw? But...how?" Kakashi asked, unable to believe his words.

"I'm not surprised you don't know. You collapsed as soon as you did away with her."

Kakashi seemed to be angered by his comment. "You don't understand! I didn't have a choice! You...you don't know the real reason I had to do it..." Kakashi said, his voice fading.

"Then please. Enlighten me." Obito said.

Kakashi stared at the ground for a moment, then lifted his head to face Obito.

"She...was a spy..."

"A spy you say?"

"Yes...a spy for the Hidden Mist Village...or as it was called back then, the Bloody Mist Village."

"...Please. Continue."

"Rin and I were on a mission...and we were ambushed by Mist ANBU. Or so I thought. It was actually a trap set up for me. I was supposed to be killed, and Rin was supposed to go back to the Bloody Mist and tell them all of Konoha's secrets that she had learned over the years she had lived there..."

"So what you're telling me is Rin was a traitor, and you were to die that day?"

"Yes...I figured it out when the Mist ANBU leader ordered her to kill me. I thought it was some enemy trick to try and turn us against each other. But when I turned to look at her, she already had a kunai out, ready to attack me...but."

"But?"

"But she couldn't do it. Her arm was shaking and she looked torn. She was crying. She shook her head and said she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to kill me. The leader of the ANBU ordered her again to do it. But she didn't. Still...she knew then that she couldn't be allowed to live. She knew that even if she didn't kill me, and we somehow managed to get out of there alive, The Leaf Village would kill her on the sole reason of her being a spy in the first place."

Obito was silent this time, so Kakashi continued.

"She...she asked me to kill her instead. My mind was still reeling from everything I had just learned. But I snapped out of it when she asked me again. I was hesitant at first, but I knew her fate. She didn't want to go back, but she knew she would die either way. So...I killed her and put an end to it...I assume that's where you came in..."

"...I guess so..."

"So, do you still hate me for what I did?"

"Hate you? No. I'm greatful."

Kakashi was shocked at his words. "You're what?"

"I'm greatful I now know the truth. And that she didn't kill you."

"Obito..."

"...Because now I can kill you myself!" Obito shouted, his demenor changing from calm to enraged.

"WHAT?" Kakashi yelled, unable to believe Obito's reaction.

"Please! Do you expect me to believe a lie like that? You shouldn't have spent more time on your cover story Kakashi!" Obito spat.

"What? Lies? Obito I'm telling you the truth! Why would I lie about something like that?"

"Don't play dumb! You obviously did it because you wanted the Mangekio Sharingan! That's the only real reason I can think of!"

"Don't be stupid Obito! I didn't even know about the Mangekio Sharingan at that time!"

But it was too late. Obito had lost all sense of reasoning. He charged at Kakashi. He tried to grab him so he could suck him into his alternate world, but Kakashi countered by throwing a kunai at his head before he could reach him. Needing to avoid being hit, Obito had to make himself phase through it, in turn, phasing through Kakashi as well. The moment he was behind him, he drew a kunai and tried to spin around and drill it into Kakashi's back. But Kakashi was able to spin around and block it with another kunai. They both jumped back and stared each other down.

"_I can't afford to waste chakra. If I use any techniques, he'll just pass right through them. I need to save them for when I have an opening I can exploit. For now, it'll ha__ve to be strictly hand to hand." _Kakashi thought to himself.

He thought for another moment. _"Obito's form has gotten sloppy though. He's blinded by rage and it's affecting his judgment as he fights. Maybe if I time it right, I can pierce him with my Lightn__ing Blade."_

Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted as Obito began his next attack. He shot out four spears of wood from his right arm. Kakashi reacted quickly and went through a series of hand seals.

"FIRE STYLE: FIRE BALL JUSTU!" Kakashi yelled, as he blew a giant fireball from his mouth.

The fire ball burned all of the spears to ash. When the fire dissipated, Obito was gone. Kakashi looked around wearingly. Keeping the Sharingan moving as much as possible in hopes of catching even the slightest movement from him. Obito appeared from his other dimension, behind a boulder in the area. He was planning his next strike while Kakashi was taking his time looking for him. Obito stuck his arm into the ground and started to form another wood technique. Kakashi couldn't seem to pick up any trace of him. Suddenly, the ground beneath him began to shake.

"Got you now." Obito said from his hiding spot.

Large wooden pillars shot out from the ground and surrounded Kakashi. There was nowhere for him to run.

"Shit! He got me!" Kakashi cursed.

Obito appeared by the wooden pillars.

"You got careless Kakashi. And now it will cost you your life. And as a prize for killing you, I think I'll take my eye back." He said nonchalantly.

"Obito for the last time! I'm telling you the truth! It doesn't have to be like this!" Kakashi said, trying to reason with him.

"Oh yes it does." Obito said.

He put his hands together and wooden spears came out of the pillars and impaled Kakashi from all directions. Obito smirked at the sound of his former friend being stabbed to death by his attack. He let his hands fell to his sides and the wooden pillars began to sink back into the ground. He saw Kakashi's lifeless body lying on the ground in front of him. But something seemed wrong. There was no blood. Then it hit him.

"A CLONE?"

The clone began to turn to mud and sink into the ground as well. Obito looked furious that he was so easily fooled by a simple trick. He looked around for the real Kakashi. Suddenly, he heard the sound of birds chirping above him. He looked up to see Kakashi flying straight down towards him with his lightning blade streaking behind him. Obito just stood there, waiting for Kakashi to attack. Kakashi thrust his hand forwards and right through Obito. Literally. Obito used his ability to phase through the attack and stepped back. Kakashi's hand had hit the ground and got stuck in it. He tried pulling it out, but to no avail.

"NO! DAMNIT!" Kakashi yelled, still trying to pull his hand out of the ground.

"Hmph. How foolish. You should know a frontal assault won't work on me." Obito taunted as he walked over to Kakashi.

Kakashi looked scared and frantically tried to pull his hand out even more now. But it wouldn't budge.

"Your foolishness will cost you your life." Obito said.

Obito slowly reached his hand out to grab Kakashi. Kakashi could only look on in fear as Obito took hold of his shoulder.

"It's over now." Obito told him.

"You're right. It is." Kakashi said back.

A hand filled with lightning chakra burst from the ground and along with it came another Kakashi. Obito had no time to react as he was impaled from behind by Kakashi. His hand sticking out from Obito's chest, while the lightning still chirped. The Kakashi Obito had his hand on disappeared in a poof of smoke. Obito coughed up blood.

"Damn you…Kakashi." Obito said weakly.

Kakashi could be seen from behind Obito, crying.

Meanwhile, back on the main battlefield, the Jinchuriki and Madara were locked in battle. Madara was on the defensive. Although, he didn't seem to be worried. Gaara and Bee were leading the assault. Gaara's sand was chasing after him, while Bee turned his arm into tentacles to try and capture Madara. As Madara was jumping back, Yugito, the two tails Jinchuriki charged him from behind. She extended her nails into long claws. She attempted to swipe at him, but he was able to plant his feet, and vault into the air, avoiding her strike. He looked up to see Roshi, the Four Tails Jinchuriki performing a set of hand signs. Roshi then spit multiple lava balls towards Madara. Madara sped through his own hand signs and blew multiple dragon shaped fireballs to counter the lava balls. Normally, a lava ball would overtake a fire ball, but due to Madara's immense strength, they canceled each other out.

"Pathetic." Madara stated towards Roshi's effort.

However, Madara did not expect Roshi to attack him head on. Roshi had cloaked himself in his lava armor and caught Madara off guard as he puched him in the stomach, plummeting him back down to the ground. Madara crashed hard into the ground, and left a small crater where he landed. Madara stood with ease as the injury regenerated slowly.

"It's going to take a lot more than that to beat me." Madara said.

"Well then, try this!" Fu, the Seven Tails Jinchuriki shouted.

Fu took in a deep breath and exhaled a sparkling substance so bright, it blinded him momentarily. When he regained his vision, he saw that Utakata, the Six Tails Jinchuriki, and Han, The Five Tails Jinchuriki, had transformed into their tailed beast state, and were charging up a tailed beast bomb. They fired them at him and Madara only had a second to react.

"Almighty Push!" Madara said.

Madara stood completely still, but, the tailed beast bombs shot back at the two Jinchuriki after being repelled. They were each able to swat a bomb away with one of their tails and send it a safe distance away from the Allied Shinobi Forces.

"I've grown tired of these games." Madara stated.

Naruto watched Madara with caution. With the way things were going now, it seemed like he may have to join the battle after all. Then Madara spoke again.

"It's time I put an end to this."

Madara then summoned his Susanoo. A sight which sent fear through the Shinobi Forces. Naruto stared in awe and knew that now, without a doubt; he would have to take action.

"This is the beginning of the end for all of you." Madara said.

**To Be Continued**

**A/N: Phwew. It's about time right? :D I'm so glad I could finally finish this chapter after so long. Please let me know how I did! Cya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Naruto vs. Madara**

Naruto was in awe at the sight of Madara's Susanoo. It rivaled the size of the Kyuubi itself when Naruto was in full fox mode. But the power he felt coming from it, it seemed to have the same strength as a Jinchuriki. Naruto knew that even with the combined strength of all the other Jinchuriki, they didn't stand a chance unless Naruto fought as well.

"_**Hey, Kurama, I hope you've replenished your chakra. Cause I need it now!"**_ Naruto told Kurama

"_**You're in luck then. I've been ready for a while now. I've just been waiting on your signal." **_ The Kyuubi replied.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "_**You have no idea how happy I am to hear that."**_

"_**Aww what's the matter, does the big bad Susanoo wanna make Naruto wet himself?" **_Kurama joked.

"_**TO HELL WITH YOU JERK! I'M NOT AFRAID! I JUST NEED YOUR HELP!" **_Naruto screamed, infuriated by Kurama's sense of humor.

"_**Hehehe relax kit. I'm just screwin' with ya. I'm more than ready when you are."**_

"_**Ok. Thanks. Get ready...you know Kurama…I'd say you're the one who wet himself. I mean the floor in my subconscious is completely wet. If you catch my drift." **_Naruto said to Kurama, smirking to himself.

"_**Key words, 'MY subconscious'." **_Kurama retorted.

Naruto paused for a minute trying to make sense of what Kurama just said.

"_**...HEY! Why you…gahhh!" **_Naruto screamed in his head.

"_**Face it kit. You're too many hundreds of years young to outwit me." **_Kurama said, rubbing it in.

Naruto mumbled to himself angrily. His focus, however, snapped back to the task at hand.

"_**We can settle this later. Let's go." **_

"_**Right." **_

But just before Naruto could gather the Kyuubi's chakra, a hand grabbed his. He turned to see Sakura looking at him with tears in her eyes, but a look of determination in them.

"I want to fight with you." She said in a soft but firm voice.

Naruto blinked a couple of times. "Sakura, it's way too dangerous for you to be here. You and the rest of the alliance need to get out of here now." Naruto said in a calm and concerned voice.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not leaving you no matter what you say. I want to fight too, and I want to fight alongside you."

"Sakura, I can't risk losing you. Too many people have already died for me…even Neji…I can't let you."

"I won't die as long as I'm with you. You're the one who's going to save the world. And I'm going to be right beside you while you do it." She squeezed Naruto's hand tighter. "As long as I'm with you, I know I'll be safe." She said lovingly.

Naruto didn't say anything for a moment. He only looked at her. Her eyes seemed to be begging to let her stay. Naruto sighed.

"Alright. But don't leave my side." He said.

Sakura wrapped him in a tight hug. "Never." She responded.

Naruto smiled for a brief second, but then got serious again. _**"Kurama." **_Was all he said.

"_**You got it kit!" **_Was Kurama's reply.

Sakura was startled to feel her feet lift off the ground. She realized she was floating inside of Naruto's full Biju mode. She was still holding onto him, afraid to let go at the fear of her falling if she did. She held Naruto tighter and Naruto seemed to notice Sakura's fear.

"It's ok Sakura. You won't fall. I promise." Naruto reassured her.

Sakura nodded and hesitantly let go of Naruto. But she still held his hand. True to his word, Sakura stayed afloat inside Naruto's Biju mode. She felt safe being with him. She would rather be nowhere else right now than by his side.

"Thank you Naruto." She said to him.

"Hmm? For what?" He asked.

"For trusting me and letting me fight with you."

He grinned at her and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you're kinda hard to turn down." He joked.

Sakura giggled and they both faced Madara.

"You ready, Sakura?" Naruto asked her.

"Yeah. Let's kick his ass!" She stated.

* * *

Kakashi was sitting on a rock by Obito's now dead body. His tears had dried, but the look of sadness remained plastered to his face. He recalled his last few moments with his former teammate and best friend.

*_Flashback_*

Kakashi pulled his hand out of Obito's body. Spilling fresh blood as he did. Obito dropped to his knees, and then collapsed to the ground.

"_How…how could I lose?" _Obito asked, coughing up more blood.

"_You let your hatred for me consume you. You weren't yourself when we fought. There was no way you could have won." _Kakashi explained.

"_Ha…that's…just like you. Acting all high and mighty…tell me something…Kakashi." _

"_Anything, old friend."_

"_Were you really telling the truth? Was Rin…really a spy?" _Obito managed to ask.

"_I would never lie to you about something like that when it came to her." _Is all Kakashi said in response.

"_I see…and she really asked you to kill her?" _He asked once more.

"_Yes. She would rather it have been by my hands, then at the hands of the village. This way…she could at least die as a ninja of the hidden leaf, instead of as a traitor to the village she had grown to love." _

Obito remained silent for a while. Trying to take in the information, and the reality about the girl he loved.

"_I'm sorry Kakashi." _He finally said.

"_Hmmm?" _

"_I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I should have known you never would have done that without a good reason. It must have been heart breaking for you to have done that. Because of this…I inflicted pain upon the world to ease my own. Now…I realize how foolish I was."_

"_Obito…"_

"_Listen to me…Madara must be stopped. If he isn't, then I'll never be able to relieve the guilt I feel for all that I've done."_

"_We will stop him. I promise."_

"_Thank you. His weakness…his weakness is his eyes. You have to take them out of the picture. They are his greatest strength, but also…his greatest weakness."_

"_Really? But…how do you know this?"_

"_After the incident when you thought I had died, Madara saved me. He was old and only surviving off of a life support source. He infused my body with Hirashima's cells and was able to reconstruct the part of it that was crushed." _He coughed up blood, but continued. "When…when you live with someone for that many years…you…tend to notice…These kinds of things. _So please…"_ He coughed again. _"Stop him. Don't let him…destroy this world…you all strive to protect."_ Obito said, his voice becoming more strained as he neared his end.

"_I see now…Thank you Obito. I won't let your last wish be for nothing. Goodbye, my friend." _Kakashi said, as fresh tears started to fall from his eyes.

Obito smiled. He knew he could count on Kakashi. He mentally thanked him once more. He let out a long sigh as everything went black, and he passed on.

*_End flashback*_

Kakashi stared at his friend's body. A new determination flowing through him. The wind blew gently, blowing leaves around Obito's body, before they were carried away into the sky.

"Obito…when this is over, I promise I'll give you a proper burial." Was all Kakashi said, before he raced back to rejoin the main battle.

* * *

Naruto and Madara had already begun their battle. Madara was once again on the defensive. Naruto had been attacking with a barrage of punches from the chakra hands he had produced. Madara's Susanoo blocked every punch with ease.

"Naruto, it's not working! You need to try something else! Sakura said.

Naruto took Sakura's advice and changed tactics. Instead of punching it, he used two chakra hands to grab Susanoo and hold it in place. Madara wasn't expecting this. Taking this moment as the best opportunity, Naruto charged up a tailed beast bomb.

"Sakura, hold on tight to me. The recoil's gonna be a little rough." Naruto told her.

She did as she was told and held on to Naruto as tight as she could. Susanoo tried to break free from Naruto's grasp, but the more it struggled, the more hands grabbed it.

"Damn this pest." Madara cursed in his usual demeanor.

The bomb was fully charged and all of a sudden, Susanoo and Madara were being yanked towards the Kurama look-a-like.

"Alright…FIRE!" Naruto yelled.

As soon as Madara and Susanoo were a few feet away, The bomb was let loose and impacted. Naruto had released his grip on Susanoo and jumped back to avoid the aftermath of the attack. Just as Naruto predicted, the recoil caused a massive shockwave and Sakura was almost blown away if it weren't for her strong grip on Naruto. They landed a good distance away from where Madara was and watched as the smoke started to clear.

"Did we do it?" Sakura asked.

"It's gonna take a lot more than that to bring him down, Sakura." Naruto said.

"**Yes it will. Look there." **Kurama pointed out.

The smoke cleared to reveal a slightly injured Susanoo. Some of it had reverted to its skeleton-like state. It was shielding Madara with its body to protect him from the blast.

"I must say. That attack packed quite a punch." Madara said from behind Susanoo.

Susanoo moved from covering Madara and took its usual place behind him once more. He was unscathed thanks to its protection.

"To be able to damage my Susanoo to that extent is no easy task. I commend you." He continued to say. "However, it will take a lot more than that to bring my Susanoo down. Especially if you want to get to me."

Naruto cursed under his breath. He knew that he couldn't keep his Biju mode active for that long. So far, he could only keep it up for eight minutes. He and Kurama would need to establish a better connection with each other first in order to lengthen that time. But with the way things were right now, that would be difficult. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to Sakura who was smiling warmly at him.

"Don't give up. You'll find a way. You always do. As long as I'm here with you, you have my strength." She told him.

"Sakura…" He stared at her for a moment and then smiled. "Thank you."

He placed his hand on the hand that was on his shoulder. "As long as you're here, I know I…no…we will win." He said to her.

"**You two done yet? I can't fight if you two make me sick with your lovey dovey crap." **Kurama interrupted.

Sakura blushed heavily and had an embarrassed look on her face, while Naruto looked completely livid.

"Shut up you ass! We're trying to have a moment here!" Naruto said to his partner.

"Naruto, it's ok." Sakura said, laughing nervously.

"**You can have all the moments you want after we win this war. Until then, stay focused or else we're all gonna die." **Kurama said nonchalantly.

"Alright I get it, I get it." Naruto said pouting.

Sakura giggled at his childish act. That's something she knew would never change. Even when his life was on the line in an important battle like this. It made her feel safe, because it showed Naruto had confidence that they were going to win. And she believed they would no matter what.

"Ok. Let's go Sakura. Kurama." Naruto said.

"Right!" Sakura shouted.

"**Right!" **Kurama shouted next.

"Don't think I'm going to let you keep doing as you want." Madara interrupted.

Naruto and Sakura refocused their attention on Madara. Their look was serious. As if their previous conversation never happened.

"Don't get too overconfident just because you were able to damage my Susanoo. You aren't the first one to do so. And even he didn't have an easy time defeating it." Madara explained.

"He? Who's he?" Naruto questioned.

"The First Hokage of course." Madara replied. "Of course, even with the help of the Kuubi, you're still nowhere near as strong as he was. So really, you have no chance of winning." Madara finished.

"It's true that I may not be as strong as the First was…but…I will be Hokage someday! And I will surpass the First! I'll be the greatest Hokage to ever live! And I'm gonna prove that, by winning this war, and taking you down!" Naruto stated confidently.

Madara was silent for a moment. Taking in what Naruto had said. He then chuckled.

"I admire your determination, Naruto Uzumaki. Very well. If you truly believe you can stop me, then come. Let us finish this once and for all." Madara said, indulging Naruto.

Madara's Susanoo drew its sword, the same sword it used to slice apart mountains while fighting the five Kage.

"_That sword looks dangerous. Better watch out for it. Although…I can't let it stray off, or it'll injure the people behind us." _Naruto thought to himself.

"_**Yes. Don't take it lightly. That sword has the power to slice even mountains in a single strike. We can't handle too many hit from that thing."**_ Kurama added.

"_So what do we do then? We can't let the Allied Forces get hurt. But if we take a direct hit from that thing, we might not survive." _Naruto said concerned.

"_**It may seem troublesome, but nothing is impossible. You of all people have taught me that. We will find a way to win. Just as you said. After all. You never go back on your word." **_Kurama said reassuringly.

Naruto smiled at Kurama's words. He was right. He always kept his promises, and he didn't intend to stop now.

"Prepare yourselves." Madara said.

Naruto and Sakura got ready for the next round. Susanoo raised its sword above its head slowly. It then swung down at them with all its might. Even though Susanoo was gigantic, the speed in which it swung its sword was incredible. Reacting instantly, Naruto summoned five chakra arms to try and stop the sword. Each hand clapped together on the sides of the sword and stopped it. However, in doing so, it caused Naruto's Kyuubi form to sink into a small crater that was caused by the impact. Naruto and Sakura jolted a little due to the shockwave the block caused. A large gust of wind blew back towards the Allied Forces, causing some to fly backwards. Most earth style users were able to form a row of giant rock walls to protect against the strong back lash of wind. No one was killed, but there were some that were injured.

"Impressive. You were even able to stop Susanoo's sword. Perhaps I slightly underestimated you…however…" Madara stated.

Susanoo began to put more pressure in trying to force the sword down. Naruto flinched and could feel Susanoo beginning to overpower him. The Chakra Kyuubi was forced to take one knee while attempting to stop the sword from coming down any further.

"_Shit! This isn't good! He's overpowering us and we've almost reached our time limit!"_ Naruto inwardly cursed.

"Come now Naruto. Is this all the strength you possess? If so, I fear for this world." Madara taunted.

"Shut up! We're not going down that easily!" Naruto responded.

Naruto managed to make another chakra arm and use it to attack Susanoo while it couldn't defend itself. Seeing no other option, Madara and Susanoo jumped back to avoid the hit, freeing Naruto from Susanoo's sword and being able to ready himself for his next attack. Although, Madara wasted no time in making Susanoo make a horizontal slash in his direction. Naruto was able to make the chakra Kyuubi duck just in time from taking the hit and charged forward.

"_Predictable_." Madara thought.

However, He didn't expect this next move. Naruto made the hand sign for the shadow clone technique.

"MULTI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto Yelled.

In a giant poof of smoke, What looked to be like a hundred Narutos came flying towards Madara and Susanoo. All of which activated their miniature Kyuubi mode, and began to form mini tailed beast bombs.

"_Shit!" _Madara cursed in his head.

Susanoo was still resetting itself from its previous attack. So There wouldn't be enough time to counter Naruto's attack. Taking the opening while they still had it, the Naruto clones unleashed their bombs simultaneously, all aiming for Susanoo, and connecting. The impact caused Susanoo and Madara to stagger backwards and Madara to shield his eyes from the smoke and dust the impact caused. When he was able to see again, he saw a single Naruto clone charging him with a Rasengan formed, ready to strike.

"It won't be that easy." Madara said.

Madara flew through some hand signs and clasped his hands together. Before the Natruto clone could reach Madara, a tree shot out of the ground and hit him, causing him to disappear. Madara then heard the whirling of another Rasengan above him. He looked up to see another Naruto clone flying down towards him. He was barely able to dodge the attack by jumping backwards. The Rasengan impacted with the ground and created a small crater. Madara then kicked the clone away, causing it to also disappear.

"_Not bad, Naruto Uzumaki. You're more clever than I gave you credit for." _Madara thought.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" The real Naruto shouted while putting his hand up to his head. "I thought I had him!" He said.

He closed his eyes as a stream of tears started flowing from them. His lower lip was quivering and he made low whimpering sounds to voice his disappointment. Sakura looked at him with a look of embarrassment and annoyance.

"_And I'm in love with this guy..."_ She thought to herself.

"_**Don't sweat it. I have to ****deal**** with him every day. You've got it easy."**_ Kurama said telepathically to her.

"_I'm so sorry." _She said back to him.

"_**You learn to live with it." **_He responded.

By that time, Naruto was back to being serious and ready to fight again. Although, he figured that he only hand about a minute left to fight in that form.

"_Kurama." _Naruto said telepathically.

"_**I know kit. We're running out of time. Although, I think we might be able to hold it for at least another two minutes. I feel like our bond keeps increasing with each passing moment. Every time you attack, I attack and we synchronize our power to complete the attack. If that's the case, we maybe able to use this mode a little longer." **_Kurama told him.

Naruto realized what Kurama was saying was true. He did feel like they were more in sync now. And if that was true, maybe they _could_ hold out a little longer.

"_Alright then. We better not waste any of that time then. Let's go!" _Naruto said.

"NARUTO!" Came a voice from behind him.

Naruto and Sakura looked back to see Kakashi standing at the front of the Allied Forces.

"Kakashi Sensei? Did you beat Obito?" Naruto asked him.

"Yes! And he told me Madara's weakness!"

"Really? What is it!?"

"It's his eyes! If we take those out of the picture, he won't be able to fight anymore!"

"His eyes…I see." Sakura said. "His greatest strength is his greatest weakness…" She added.

Naruto grinned at Kakashi and gave him a thumbs-up. "Thank's Kakashi Sensei! Now we know what to aim for!" Naruto shouted, thanking him.

Kakashi eye smiled and gave him a thumbs-up in return. "Alright Naruto. Make me proud and win this war." Kakashi said.

"You bet!" Naruto replied enthusiastically.

"Just because you know my weakness, doesn't mean you'll be able to do anything about it." Madara said, interrupting Naruto and his sensei.

Naruto turned back to Madara and smirked at him. "You should know not to underestimate me by now. I will beat you, and I will win this war. Just you wait." Naruto responded.

"Then prove it with your actions. Not your words." Madara said back.

"I will. And I think it's about time I gave my new eyes a try." Naruto retorted.

Naruto and Madara locked stares. Each ready to put an end to this war. But only one can be the victor. One can save the world, the other can destroy it. The finale is about to begin.

**To Be Continued**

**A/N: TT-TT I finally got this done. I'm sorry everyone. I meant to have this up sooner, but I got sick with the flu and didn't have the strength to type this up. I still am sick really, but I'm much better than before. Thank you all so much for being so patient. You're all really great. Without all of you, I don't think I'd have the motivation to write. Thank you. As always, please review and look forward to the next chapter. Till the, CYA!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heh Hey everyone! Crippleshot13 is back! I want to apologize for taking so very long with this chapter. I know many of you have been looking forward to it and I thank you for waiting so long. Unfortunately, I've been sick literally for a about three months now. I know I said I was getting better last time, but even I didn't expect to be out of commission this long. And I haven't been able to write much because I get a massive headache if I stare at my computer screen too long. I'm getting better now though (for real this time =_=) and have been able to finally resume, and complete this chapter! So I won't hold you up any longer. On to the story!**

**The Fight Intensifies: Battle of the Eyes**

Naruto and Madara stared each other down, observing the other; looking for any sorts of openings. One with the Rinnegan, the other with the Triagon. There was an eerie silence on the battle field. Only the wind could be heard. The Allied Forces stared on in anticipation. The battle they had witnessed so far had been spectacular and frightening all at the same time. Naruto was the first one to speak.

"Everyone listen. I need all of you to stay a safe distance away from the battle. I can't guarantee that I will be able to protect every one of you while I'm fighting."

Garra complied with the request. "You heard him! Everyone fall back at once!"

The Allied Forces began withdrawing to a safe distance at the orders of their General. Each thinking a similar thought. For Naruto to do his best and end the war. Naruto felt relieved seeing that they had withdrawn, although, his forcus never left Madara. He was able to see them through his Byakugan portion of his eyes.

"Even if they retreat, it is only a matter of time before I destroy them as well." Madara commented.

"Not gonna happen." Naruto calmly retorted.

"We shall see. You may have these new eyes, but, do you have the skill to use them properly?" Madara asked.

"I guess we'll find out, won't we?" Naruto asked back.

"Indeed. Very well. Let's end this, shall we?"

"I'm ready when you are."

Naruto and Sakura stared at Madara for another few seconds. Then, Naruto brought forth four chakra arms that shot towards Madara's Susanoo. Madara didn't seem to be worried. And with good reason. His Susanoo dodged all four arms and cut each of them.

"Damnit! It looks like it's found out how to dodge them!" Naruto cursed.

"What do we do now Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Don't worry. I'll figure something out." He reassured her.

"I'm afraid I won't give you the time to." Madara said.

He charged at them and his Susanoo followed. Naruto didn't flinch. He kept his cool and watched for an opening. Madara was within striking distance when something caught his eye.

"_Hmm…is he trying to use_…" Madara questioned.

Black flames started to form around Susanoo and Madara's suspicions were dead on. Susanoo started to flail around trying to extinguish the fire. Still, Madara wasn't worried, before the black flames could seriously hurt Susanoo, he put them out. Then, out of nowhere, Naruto's Bijuu form appeared suddenly and punched Madara's Susanoo, causing it to fall to the ground.

"_That was just the opening I needed." _Naruto thought to himself.

"Nice work Naruto!" Sakura said

"Thanks, but it won't be that easy. I gotta keep up the pressure." Naruto replied.

"_**Well, whatever you're gonna do, I suggest you do it soon. We won't be able to hold this form much longer." **_Kurama chimed in.

"_Don't worry. Even if we lose this form, I have a backup plan."_ Naruto said.

"_**Alright. I'll take your word for it, kit."**_

Naruto formed two extra chakra arms and held down all four of Susanoo's limbs. He brought the mouth of the nine tails close to its face and began charging a tailed beast bomb.

"Almighty push." Was all Madara said.

The Bijuu form was repelled from Susanoo and landed a few feet away.

"Damn. I forgot he could do that too." Naruto said as he got up. "Sakura, are you ok?" He asked concerned.

"I'm fine Naruto. Don't worry about me." She said.

"_**I'm fine too, jackass."**_ Kurama joked.

"_What makes you think I care about you?"_ Naruto joked back.

"_**Don't make me take my powers away from you." **_Kurama replied.

"_I'll be quiet now." Naruto said saddened._

"Get ready Naruto. He's about to attack." Sakura warned him.

Susanoo was still getting back on its feet, while Madara was going through hand signs.

"Wood Style:Wood Dragon." Madara pronounced.

The ground started to rumble and then, two wood dragons appeared out of the ground. They hurled themselves towards Naruto and Sakura. Naruto was still trying to get the nine tails Bijuu mode standing back up. He wouldn't have time to counter it with it, so he opted for a different solution.

"Almighty push!" He shouted.

The two wood dragons were sent flying back and destroyed due to the force of the push.

"Not bad. It seems you do possess some control of those eyes." Madara complimented.

"Save it. I don't need your praise." Naruto shot back.

Naruto didn't hesitate to go on the offensive again. Susanoo was back up and was headed for a clash with Naruto's Bijuu nine tails form. Naruto made a shadow clone so it could take on Madara on ground level. Susanoo raised its sword to strike, while the nine tails form began forming another tailed beast bomb. Naruto's clone and Madara had begun to charge at each other as well. They opted to save their chakra and engage in taijutsu. The clone tried a round house kick but, Madara stopped it with his hand. Madara aimed to punch the clone with his free hand, but the clone brought its arms up into an X shape to block it from getting through. The clone jumped free from Madara's grip on its leg. Each could see what move the other was going to make thanks to the clone's Sharingan and Madara's Rinnegan. Meanwhile, Susanoo had swung its sword down towards Naruto and Sakura, and the Bijuu form fired its bomb. The two objects collided and the result was a stalemate. The bomb exploded when it touched the sword, and the sword was pushed back from the impact.

"_**Damnit! I'm sorry Naruto, but our time's up. I hope your back up plan works while I restore my chakra again." **_Kurama said.

"_Don't worry. I've got it covered for now. Rest and get your chakra back." _Naruto replied.

"_**Okay. Don't go dying on me."**_

With that, Kurama had cut off the connection between him and Naruto for the time being. Causing the tailed beast mode to dissolve as well. Naruto also lost his mini tailed beat mode as well, turning him back to normal. He and Sakura landed safely on the ground.

"What do we do now, Naruto? Sakura asked.

"Don't worry. Just because Kurama is gone for now, doesn't mean we don't have a way of fighting back." Naruto said smiling at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused.

Without answering, three giant smoke clouds appeared behind him. Sakura looked back in shock to see that Gamabunta, Gamahiro, and Gamaken had been summoned.

"Hey brat. Couldn't go one battle without our help could you?" Gamabunta joked at Naruto.

"And here I thought you'd be itching to fight, boss. I can always send you back." Naruto said, smirking at Gamabunta.

"Nah. We're here now, so we'll fight. What do you need us to do?" He asked.

"I need you three to hold off Susanoo for a while. Just until Kurama can gather enough chakra for me to use my Bijuu mode again." Naruto explained.

"I will try my best. Although, it will be very ungraceful." Gamaken said.

Gamahiro nodded in agreement, and Gamabunta stared at Madara's Susanoo.

"It won't be easy. But we'll do our best." He assured Naruto.

"Thanks guys!" Naruto said.

The three toads leaped into action against Susanoo and began to separate it from Madara by attacking it with their weapons.

He turned his attention to Sakura next. "Sakura, listen very carefully. I need you to do everything you can to protect me. I'm going to go into sage mode so I have more of a fighting chance against Madara."

"OK Naruto. I promise I won't let anything near you." She said determined to protect him.

"Thank you Sakura."

He sat on the ground and assumed his meditation stance. Sakura stood next to him, making sure there was nothing coming for them.

Madara and Naruto's clone were still fighting. Naruto still had some of the Kyuubi's chakra left over from when he was summoned, so he was still able to keep pace with Madara. Neither had landed a single blow on the other yet. So they both decided it was time to use their justsu. Madara had started performing hand signs. Naruto could tell the justu was going to be fire style using the Sharingan portion of his eyes to watch Madara's hand signs.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu." Madara said, as he blew a giant fireball from his mouth.

Naruto's clone used Amaterasu to counter the fireball and the two fire sources collided. They seemed to be evenly matched, but the Amaterasu began to slowly eat away at the fire ball. Suddenly, Naruto's clone spun around and kicked away a wood clone Madara had created. It was able to see it thanks to the Byakugan portion of its eyes.

"Hmph. Forgot the little brat could see like that." Madara said in a monotone voice.

Amaterasu had completely burned away Madara's fireball by then, and he in turn, put those flames out as well. Madara then noticed that Naruto was sitting on the ground, with only Sakura to guard him.

"The fool. Does he really think that weak girl can protect him?"

Madara then dashed towards them, passing Naruto's clone, who chased after him.

"Shit! He found out!" Sakura cursed.

She assumed a battle stance in front of Naruto, ready to protect him.

"Pathetic." Madara mumbled.

He then felt himself being kicked in the face. He flew off to the side from the kick Naruto's clone had just landed on him.

"Thank you, Naruto!" Sakura said relieved.

"No problem! Is he ready yet?" The clone asked.

She shook her head. "Not yet. But he should be any second now."

"Alright. I'll keep holding him off till he's ready. But you need to be ready too if he beats me."

With that, the clone ran after Madara who was just getting up.

"Nice kick, brat. But don't get cocky." Madara said.

Naruto's clone just kept rushing Madara. Then, it seemed to grow two extra arms. Madara was momentarily shocked at this change as the clone removed one of its hands and began shooting missiles at him. Madara had to jump backwards to avoid being hit. While distacted, the clone formed a canon from its other arm and fired a powerful chakra blast at him. Madara had to think fast and used the power of absorption the Rinnegan provided him to prevent him from taking a direct hit. Madara observed the clone carefully after absorbing the blast and smiled.

"It seems you've used up the last of your Bijuu chakra."

Madara was right. The Naruto clone was now panting and reverting back to a normal clone. It reverted from its Asura path knowing that Madara would only absorb any chakra blasts he fired at him.

"You may wield those eyes well, but without your Bijuu mode, you're weak." Madara coldly stated.

The clone put up a defensive stance but it was no use. Madara quickly dashed towards him with blinding speed and landed a punch to its gut. The clone let out a painful gasp and was sent flying forward. It disappeared within seconds of being launched.

"Now then…" Madara said as he turned himself to face Naruto and Sakura. "Will you be fighting me yourself this time?" He asked Naruto.

Sakura was glaring daggers at Madara but he was unfazed. His attention was directed at the boy standing next to her. He stood there with his arms crossed and the outer portion of his eyes turned orange. His pupils had elongated indicating he had achieved sage mode.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Naruto said back.

Meanwhile, Madara's Susanoo and the three giant toads were engaged in a fierce fight. Although, even while outnumbered, Susanoo seemed to be in control of the battle. Gamabunta leapt into the air preparing for a downward slash on Susanoo. It was distracted only for a split second, but realized that he was a diversion and anticipated Gamahiro's sneak attack from behind it. Susanoo spun around in time to block Gamahiro's twin sword slash with its own sword. Gamabunta took this as an opportunity to strike. He brought his giant knife down to slash it, but Susanoo brought out its other two arms and caught the blade in its palms by the sides of it. This left its back wide open and Gamaken took a swing at it. However, Suasnoo twisted Gamabunta's blade and tossed him to the side, and kicked Gamahiro away and was able to dodge the attack. The three toads had Susanoo surrounded in a triangular formation, but were obviously tired.

"Damnit! Does this guy have any weaknesses or what? We can't tough him!" Gamabunta said frustrated.

"I'm sorry. Because I am ungraceful, I was not able to land that last attack." Gamaken apologized.

"Well we can't give up! Naruto is counting on us! We can't allow Susanoo to remerge with Madara!" Gamahiro said determined not to let Naruto down.

"You're right. We weren't much help in his battle against Pain. That bastard knocked all three of us out in one move. I'm not going down so easily this time!" Gamabunta said with new resolve.

Gamabunta then built up for his attack. He sucked in a lot of air and held it in for a few seconds.

"Water Bullet!" He shouted.

He hit his belly repeatedly sending giant water bullets towards Susanoo. It cut every single one with its sword, but, Gamabunta wasn't finished. He jumped straight towards Susanoo ready to stab it. The other two toads joined the rush and prepared for their own attack. With no way to block all three strikes at the same time, Susanoo grasped its sword tightly with both hands and spun around in a circular motion with its blade outstretched. The three toads had no choice but to block. Gamabunta held his knife to the side of him to prevent himself from being cut and jumped back. Gamaken blocked the strike with his shield and staggered backwards a bit. Gamahiro was able to block with both his swords and stand his ground. He then took the opportunity to make a counter attack. He pushed Susanoo's sword to the side, causing it to lose its balance momentarily, and aimed for its chest area with one of his swords. It was a direct hit, but because Susanoo had a sturdy defense, it only made a small cut.

"You've gotta be kidding me! That was a perfect hit! Is it really that durable?" Gamabunta asked surprised.

Susanoo seemed unfazed for the most part and regained its balance. It aimed another strike and Gamahiro, who jumped to the side to avoid the attack.

"_The Nine Tails better restore its chakra soon. I don't know how much longer we can hold out."_ Gamabunta thought to himself.

While Gamabunta and the others were fighting Susanoo, Naruto and Madara's fight had already begun once again.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!" Madara shouted.

Madara took in a deep breath and blew out what looked to be like a giant flame thrower. It then started to spread into a massive wall of fire. Naruto ran as fast as he could to avoid it, but Madara was right on his tail. Finally, Madara had to stop the justsu to take a breath. Naruto used this chance to try a counter attack. He dashed towards Madara and created two shadow clones. They each formed a Rasengan in each of Naruto's hands. The Rasengan started at normal size, then grew into two massive sized ones. Madara stood his ground and prepared for the attack. Naruto stretched out his arms once he was in range.

"Giant Rasen Barrage!" Naruto yelled.

Madara lifted both hands and started to absorb the Rasengan. He was shocked to see Naruto smirking. He then heard a Rasangan behind him. One of the clones was just about to strike, but Madara was ready.

"Almighty Push!" He said.

Naruto and his clone were repelled backwards and the clone dispersed once it hit the ground. The real Naruto recovered quickly though and countered.

"Universal Pull!" Naruto shouted.

Madara was surprised to see that he was being pulled towards Naruto so easily. He couldn't break free from his grasp. Just as soon as Madara was about to reach Naruto, the one remaining clone appeared and punched him square in the face using its sage enhanced strength. Madara is sent spiraling backwards again and skips across the dirt a few times before stopping. He then stood up and faced Naruto once more.

"I must say, I haven't had a fight like this in a long time. The only one who's ever been able to put up this much of a fight was the First Hokage." Madara said, complimenting Naruto.

"And you're just as tough as the legends say." Naruto complimented back.

"_Kurama, how much longer? I can't keep sage mode up forever. And Chief Toad and the others don't look like they can hold out much longer." _

"_**I should be ready in about five minutes. Do whatever you can to give me that much time. You're doing great so far."**_

"_Alright. Let me know as soon as you're ready."_

"I can't use Rasenshuriken or he'll just absorb it. That would just waste my chakra and force me to revert too soon." Naruto said to himself. "Now would be a really good time for me to use Genjutsu on him with the Sharingan portion of my eyes…if I didn't suck so much at Genjustsu. Plus he would easily break free. I'll have to rely on close combat and hope I can land a few hard hits."

"What's wrong? Lost your nerve already?" Marada asked mockingly.

"Hardly!" Naruto shouted as he rushed forward towards Madara; his clone following close behind.

Madara lifted both his arms and shot multiple wooden needles towards the two. The clone jumped to the front and repelled them using the Almighty Push, but Madara kept firing, knowing that there was a time limit to where it could use the technique again. Both Naruto resorted to dodging, weaving smoothly past any needles that flew at them. Madara saw this wasn't working and stopped firing and instead slammed his palms on the ground and created a few trees roots that looked to counter Naruto's advance. Both Naruto and his clone jumped and bounced off the roots and continued their charge.

"Persistent pests." Madara said annoyed.

Giving up on any different techniques, Madara began to charge them himself. The real Naruto and Madara were headed for a collision clash. Both with their fists cocked back, ready to strike. They shot their arms forward resulting in a hard fist bump that sent a shockwave through the ground from the force of the attack. Naruto ducked and tried to sweep Madara's feet with a spin kick, but Madara jumped up, avoiding the hit. Naruto's clone was already within inches of Madara and sent a punch flying at his face again, however, Madara was able to bring his arms up and block this time. He was sent a few feet back and landed upright.

"_Hmm…the fact that he isn't making another clone to help attack either means he can't or he's conserving Chakra. Which means, if I take out his clone, it'll be easier to land a hit." _Madara thought.

Naruto and his clone had begun another assault, dashing towards Madara again. Madara formed the hand seals for another technique.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Justsu!"

He blew a giant fire ball at the two, causing them to jump to either side to avoid it.

"Perfect." Madara stated.

He dashed towards the clone, which was still in the air from dodging. It didn't expect to see Madara coming and took a roundhouse kick to the rib cage. It disappeared after being sent flying a few feet.

"Shit! It was just a distraction to separate us!" Naruto cursed.

"Aren't you the perceptive one?" Madara mocked.

He had appeared behind Naruto while he was distracted. Naruto's eyes widened as he tried to spin around and counter any move Madara made, but he wasn't fast enough. Madara punched him in the stomach as he was spinning around; Causing Naruto to gag. He then kicked his cheek and sent him crashing to the ground a few feet away.

"_**You OK?"**_ Kurama asked.

"_Yeah. I'm alright." _Naruto replied.

"_**Good. Cause it looked like you got your ass kicked. My mistake." **_

"_You bastard! The second I beat this guy, I'm coming for you!" _Naruto yelled at his partner.

"_**Look out!**_" Kurama warned.

Naruto looked up in time to see Madara try to stab him with a wooden spear. He rolled out of the way just before the spear could hit him, and jumped to his feet. Before he could get his guard up, however, Madara had already begun to attack again. Naruto had to jump and dodge to avoid getting hit when he suddenly made an error in judgment and jumped right into a trap set by a wood clone. The clone was about to stab him in the back when suddenly, a fist with a black leather glove punched It in on the cheek and smashed its head to pieces. Naruto was shocked to see that Sakura had saved him from being impaled as she glared angrily at Madara.

"If you touch him again, that's gonna be what happens to you next." Sakura said in a low voice.

"Oh?" Was all Madara replied.

"Sakura? What are you doing? You can't beat him! Leave this to me!" Naruto said panicked. "_That was so hot though."_ He thought.

"_**I heard that."**_ Kurama chimed in.

"_Not a word out of you!" _Naruto hissed.

"_**If you say so. I guess you don't wanna hear that I'm ready to help out again."**_

"_Actually, that's the best news I've heard in a while!" _

"_**I thought you might like to hear that. But Sakura won't last long in a battle like this. Naruto, you need to give her some of my chakra."**_

"_But why? I'm about to activate Bijuu mode. She won't need it."_

"_**You're still naïve boy. Can't you tell that she wants to fight this battle alongside you? You two are teammates. One of the best pairs I've seen in all my days. But more than that, she loves you, and wants to help you with all her strength. Now transfer my chakra to her now!"**_

Naruto thought on Kurama's words for a few seconds. He smiled realizing he was right. Sakura has always been his teammate, and they work so well together. Words that Itachi told him not that long ago began to flood his mind.

*_Flashback*_

"_You once said it was everyone who cares about you who helped you get where you are now. If you forget others because you now have power, and become arrogant and egotistical, You'll eventually become just like Madara." Itachi explained._

Naruto was taken aback by Itachi's words, yet he remained silent and listened.

"_No matter how powerful you become, do not try to shoulder everything alone. If you do, you will surely fail."_

Naruto paid close attention to everything Itachi was telling him. Everything he had said so far had been true.

"_Never forget your friends."_

_*End flashback*_

"_Itachi…you're right." _Naruto thought to himself.

He began to reach his hand over to Sakura. "_I can't do it alone. My friends…they've been with me every step of the way…but most importantly…" _

Naruto placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder. "_Sakura has always been the one constantly by my side supporting me…so I promise…I will never forget the sacrifices she or anyone else has ever made for me!" _

Sakura was suddenly surrounded by a cloak of Kurama's chakra and was taken aback by the sudden change and power surge she felt coarse through her. The cloak took on a form similar to Naruto's "Version 1" form, only without the tail. She stared at Naruto wide eyed wondering what he did. Naruto looked down at her and smiled lovingly at her.

"I've shared some of Kurama's power with you. I'm entrusting you with helping me take Madara down. I can't do this alone. I need you." Naruto said warmly.

At first, Sakura didn't know what to think, but then she smiled back at him.

"I won't let you down. Now let's win this war, together." She stated boldly.

Naruto refocused his attention back at Madara. "Right!" He shouted.

He made his signature hand sign. "Shadow Clone Justsu!"

Three clones appeared in a poof of smoke, all focusing on Madara. Then, each clone activated their Tailed beast mode at the same time.

"Sakura, I'm leaving these three with you to fight Madara. I'm going to go help Chief Toad with Madara's Susanoo." Naruto explained.

"Got it! Leave things here to us!" She said reassuring him.

Naruto nodded and turned around and saw the three toads struggling to hold Susanoo off.

"_Let's do this, Kurama!" _Naruto said to his partner.

"_**You got it!" **_Kurama replied.

Naruto activated his Tailed Beast mode and for formed the replica of Kurama. He jumped hi into the air and started forming a Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Chief! Get out of the way!" Naruto yelled.

Gamabunta looked up to see the Kurama replica getting ready to fire the bomb.

"Guys, get out of the way!" Gamabunta instructed the other two toads.

All three toads jumped back as far as they could to avoid the blast. Susanoo looked up at Naruto at the last moment before he fired the bomb straight at it. It hit Susanoo with a force strong enough to level an entire country side. The shockwave created from the impact was so powerful, it caused the three toads, who were still in the air from dodging, to be blown back a ways. All three landed a good distance away from the site, trying to recover from their fall.

"You guys OK?!" Naruto yelled concerned.

"I'm fine, brat! But give us more of a warning next time!" Gamabunta shouted back.

"I'll be alright. Just need a minute to get back on my feet." Gamahiro added.

"I am ungraceful, but I am still alright." Gamaken said last.

Naruto sighed in relief that the three were unharmed. However, he had to react fast as the blade of Susanoo was headed straight for him. He grew two extra chakra arms to help stop the swords advance before it could pierce him.

"What the hell?!" Naruto thought outloud.

The smoke cleared around Susanoo where it had taken the hit from the bomb to reveal that it was badly damaged. Many parts were reverting back to its bones state, but it still had the strength to fight.

"How the hell can that thing still be standing after that?!" Naruto yelled.

Meanwhile, Sakura and the three Naruto clones had yet to begin their fight with Madara. They silently stared each other down until Madara spoke up.

"It seems he's giving my Susanoo a bit of trouble over there. You'll forgive me if I don't have the time to play with you and your three boyfriends, won't you?" Madara asked unimpressed with his clear disadvantage.

"There's no way I'm letting you go anywhere." Sakura said. "The four of us are going to stop you right here, right now. Naruto entrusted us with taking you down." She finished.

"Is that so? Granted you do seem a bit more powerful now that you have that cloak around you. But you're still no match for me. Yes, you do have these clones here, but one hit from me, and they're history. Naruto should have considered the consequences more before he left such a burden up to you." Madara retorted.

"Compared to the burden I've made him suffer through…this is nothing. I've caused him so much pain…and yet he still loves me so much. I selfishly asked him to take on a responsibility that no one should ever have to go through."

She looked down at her feet and began to tear up as she continued. "But now, he's entrusted me with the most important thing he's ever asked of me."

"She looked up at him and with a look of determination, her tears stopped. "So YOU'll forgive ME if I have no intention of letting him down, won't you?!"

Madara stated at her intently. The three Naruto clones smiling at her for her brave and thoughtful words.

"Very well. If you so desire it. I will fight you." Madara said to her.

In an instant, Madara was inches away from Sakura, his fist cocked back, ready to strike. He threw his fist at her and she pivoted on her right foot and easily avoided the blow. Madara was slightly shocked but regained his composure and reset himself for another attack. This time he aimed a kick to her head. Sakura bent down to get some leverage and brought her left arm up and blocked the kick. She then tried to aim an uppercut with her free hand to his stomach, but he jumped back to dodge. He was suddenly surrounded by the three Naruto clones as they began to assault him with punches and kicks. Madara dodged the blows as best he could, occasionally blocking a few. Then, the three clones jumped away and Madara looked up to see Sakura aiming a drop kick at his head. He brought his arms up in an X formation and blocked the kick. The force of the attack caused a crater to form below Madara.

"Almighty Push!" He shouted.

Sakura braced herself for the impact and it sent her flying backwards, she did a flip in the air and landed on her feet. She looked up to see Madara charging her again but before he could reach her, one of the Naruto clones kicked him away. He was sent flying towards another clone that kicked him straight upwards. Madara was trying to recover but was unable to as the last clone was above him with a Rasenshiriken already fully formed in its hand. It threw the wind style Rasengan at Madara and made a direct hit in his stomach. The justsu expanded and then turned into a giant ball of wind chakra that kept slicing away at Madara's reanimated body. Madara fell to the ground, his body shredded in some areas. But he seemed rather calm.

"Hmm…not bad. This may prove a little tougher than I originally realized." He said.

Madara's body began to regenerate itself rather quickly, and soon, he was up on his feet again.

"_Man, this guy just won't stay down. No matter how much of a beating he takes. It looks like the only way to stop him is like Kakashi-sensei said. We need to take out his eyes. But how…_" Sakura thought to herself.

"Now's not a good time for you to be spacing out, my dear." Madara said as he was charging towards her.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and set herself in a defensive stance. Madara proceeded to barrage her with punches and kicks, but Sakura was just able to keep up with the attacks, dodging, blocking, or matching them. Madara then withdrew and started going through some hand signs.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" He yelled.

He blew a giant fireball towards Sakura, however, she did not move from her spot. Just as the fireball was nearing her, one of the clones jumped in front of her and started to absorb the jutsu.

"Sakura, behind you!" The clone yelled.

Sakura spun around and sent a punch right into the chest of a wood clone Madara had created, shattering it to pieces.

"Thanks Naruto!" Sakura said in a relieved voice.

"Tch…how did it know?" Madara asked annoyed.

He looked around and saw one of the clones was focused on him, while the other, was focused on Sakura and the clone that absorbed the attack.

"_Of course. It knew because of the Rinnegan. These clones are going to prove to be a pain. I've got to separate them somehow so I can take them out one at a time. Then I can focus all my attention on that girl. I have to admit. She's proving to be a lot harder to deal with than I thought she would._" Madara contemplated.

While Madara had his hands full with Sakura and Naruto's clones, the real Naruto had Susanoo on the defensive. The three summons had rejoined the battle as well, causing real problems for Susanoo. Because of their constant attacks, it didn't have enough time to recover from the damage the bomb caused it. Even with its extra arms and legs, it still wasn't enough to stand up to the onslaught.

"Come on guys! We've got it on the ropes!" The Chief Toad said.

Susanoo tried to take a swing at Naruto, but Gamaken jumped in front of the attack and blocked it with his shield. Naruto created four chakra arms and grabbed all four of Susanoo's arms from behind Gamaken. This gave Gamabunta and Gamahiro the opportunity to attack from behind. They dashed at Susanoo, but it was able to take its two back legs and kick them both in the stomach and cancelling their attack. However, Gamaken was able to use his Sasumata and aim a direct hit at Susanoo's midsection. He didn't let up after just hitting Susanoo though. He kept pushing, trying to create a deeper wound, all the while, pushing it backwards. Naruto had to extend the chakra arms' reach to be able to keep a hold of Susnoo's arms so it couldn't retaliate. Finally, Gamaken gave one last shove and pierced Susanoo's armor and dealt a serious wound to where a portion of its skeletal area was located. Susanoo knelt down, obviously feeling the pain inflicted by that attack.

"OK, you've done well. I'll take it from here." Naruto said to Gamaken.

Gamaken turned to Naruto and nodded in acknowledgement. "OK. I did the best I could. Although, I was very ungraceful. I hope this was enough." Gamaken replied.

"It was more than enough. Thank you." Naruto praised.

"Alright kid. Get this over with. I'm sick of this guy." Gamabunta ordered.

"With pleasure, Chief." Naruto said agreeing.

Naruto began to form another Tailed Beast Bomb, putting all the power he possibly could into it to give the finishing blow. Gamaken remained in place, waiting for Naruto to give the word.

"Now!" Naruto shouted.

Gamaken jumped away from Susanoo. It looked up and stared at Naruto and the bomb. Naruto then fired it at Susanoo's head. Naruto let go of Susanoo and jumped back as the bomb impacted with Susanoo's head and caused another powerful shockwave. It still knelt there, not moving. As the dust cleared, it revealed Susanoo's head had been completely blown off. There was nothing left of it. Finally, it slowly began to fall forward, dropping its sword in the process. It hit the ground with a huge thud, causing a small tremor. It lay there for a moment, until its physical form began to revert. First to the muscle portion, then to the skeleton portion. It then disappeared completely. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"So glad that's finally over with." He said relaxing.

"I'll say. That guy was a pain in the ass!" Gamabunta added.

"Does this mean we're done here?" Gamahiro asked.

"Yeah. I can take care of the rest. Thank you for your help." Naurto said to the three toads.

"No problem. Glad to help." Gamabunta said. "Alright, We'll be taking our leave then. Do your best brat!"

Naruto gave him a thumbs up and smiled. Without another word, the three toads poofed away, back to Mt. Myaboku.

"It would appear that I haven't given enough credit to that Jinchuriki." Madara stated, referring to Susanoo's defeat.

Naruto now turned his attention back to where Madara, Sakura, and his three clones were. His and Madara's eyes locked on each other once more. Each acknowledging the other's strength.

"_**So Now what? Susanoo is gone. Do you plan to fight Madara alone?" **_Kurama asked.

Naruto shook his head. "_No. I won't be alone. I'll have you and Sakura there to back me up."_ Naruto smiled at those words.

"_**Heh…you've learned a lot, Naruto. Don't worry. I'll be here the whole time." **_Kurama reassured him.

"_Thanks Kurama. I'm going to turn back to normal Tailed Beast mode now. We need to conserve your chakra. Plus, it would be pointless to use this form while fighting a small and fast opponent."_

"_**Good call kid. Now let's beat the crap out of this guy! I still want payback for the time he controlled me with those eyes of his!" **_Kurama said growling.

"_Whoa easy there big guy. He'll get what's coming to him. I promise you that."_

"_**I'm holding you to that. Alright, let's go." **_

Naruto began to descend to the ground as the Nine Tails replica began to disappear. He touched down and began walking to the site of the battle. Not once breaking eye contact with Madara. Sakura watched Naruto with much anticipation. The air became thick and Sakura was slightly intimidated by how strong he was. But at the same time, she felt safe being with him. After being his teammate for so long, she's built a sense of security while being with him.

"_Naruto…you really are incredible."_ She thought.

Naruto stopped walking as he had reached the battle field. The staring contest continuing. Naruto then spoke.

"We don't have to do this Madara. There's no point in fighting anymore. Your plan failed the moment the Juubi sided with me. Obito is dead and Kabuto had been stopped. So why do you still want to keep fighting?" Naruto asked.

"_**Naruto! What the hell are you doing? You said he would get what's coming to him! Besides, reasoning with this madman will never work!" **_Kurama roared at Naruto.

"_I'm sorry Kurama. But I just feel like all this fighting is pointless. I had to fight to keep everyone safe. But…This war was over the minute Kabuto released the reanimation technique. So why keep fighting when there's nothing left to fight for?" _Naruto replied.

"Why do I keep fighting? Well the answer is simple really…It's fun." Madara said.

"What?...It's…fun? Is that really the only reason?!" Naruto yelled.

"Ninja are born to fight boy. That is the nature of our purpose. It has always been that way since the beginning. I've just learned to enjoy it."

"You mean to tell me you enjoy causing people to suffer all because you think it's fun?!"

"Exactly."

"_Kurama, screw what I said before! I can't allow him to hurt anyone else!" _Naruto said in a panic.

"_**That's more like it! You taught me the error of my ways. Now it's time you did the same for him!" **_Kurama replied enthusiastically.

"You've given me the toughest challenge since I fought Hashirama There aren't many in this world that can provide me with that. You have my respect. But, that also means I must kill you." Madara stated.

"What?!" Naruto said shocked.

"I was never able to beat Hashirama. Killing you will help ease the humiliation if only a little bit."

"Yo-you're insane!"

"Maybe…but you cannot change what I believe. Our fight will continue. And it will end with one of us standing victorious. If you really wish to save everyone, I suggest you come at me with everything you've got."

Madara started to perform a set of hand signs. Naruto didn't recognize this combination, so he knew he had to be on his guard.

"Wood Style Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees!" Madara shouted.

Before Naruto could react, Trees began to rapidly sprout from the ground and condense around the area. He, Sakura, and all three of the clones had been separated as the trees grew into a miniature forest.

"_Shit! He separated us so we wouldn't be able to use our combined eye sight to predict his attacks! And to top it off, Sakura's alone as well!" _Naruto thought to himself, panicking.

"_**Calm down Naruto. You can cut the trees down with your Rasenshiriken. Once the other clones see what you're trying to do, they'll do the same." Just make sure you watch yourself create the technique, and they'll be able to see it.**_**" **Kurama said, trying to get Naruto to relax.

"_You're right. Thanks Kurama. I needed that. OK, here goes." _

Naruto focused on his hand and began to form the Rasenshiriken. As he was doing so, the clones caught the image and knew what the real Naruto meant to do. Each clone began to create their own Rasenshiriken. When each was complete, they simultaneously threw their attack at different sections of the forest, cutting down as many trees as possible. Once most of the trees had been cut down, Madara could be seen in a clearing near the middle of the forest. Each of the Naruto's began closing in, preparing to strike. But when the real Naruto got closer, he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. Tears started to flow down them as he witnessed the scene in front of him. One of Madara's arms was in the form of a wooden spear and at the end of it was Sakura, impaled in the chest. Her expression was that of shock. She was gasping and gaging and Madara stood there with his usual expressionless look. Naruto dropped to his knees, unable to process what he was staring at. He thought he had to be in some horrible Genjutsu set up by Madara. Madara turned his head to face him, a small smile could be seen on his face.

"_**Naruto! Get ahold of yourself! Don't be fooled! Look closer at Sakura!"**_ Kurama yelled.

Naruto followed Kurama's advice and looked at Sakura. Then he noticed it. He was taken aback at what he saw. With his Byakugan powers, he could see that her chakra system was different and could also make out and explosive tag under her shirt.

"_A substitution?!" _He thought to himself.

"_**Bingo." **_

Naruto then saw the explosive tag activate. The Sakura look a-like then transformed into a log and the explosive was about to blow. Madara didn't seem worried and casually chucked the log to the side. Before it exploded, the real Sakura jumped out from where she was hiding. Madara apparently knew where she was and used the log to lure her out. The tag finally exploded and the aftermath hit Sakura, but only slightly. She had to cover her eyes from and debris that might fly her way. Madara took this opportunity to strike. He jumped to where she was and attempted to impale her with his spear. One of the Naruto clones jumped in front of the attack and took the hit, giving Sakura enough time to escape. The clone poofed away after being hit.

"Well, at least that's one pest out of the way." Madara said.

Madara didn't have time to say much more, as Naruto and his two clones had formed giant Rasengans and were attacking him from the front, back and from above. The three Rasengan collided and it was too much for the Narutos to handle. They had to break the Jutsu and recover. Just as well too, because Madara was able to escape the attack at the last second.

"You'll have to do better than that if you want to hit me." Madara said as he raised his right arm to his head.

Sakura at that exact moment had aimed a flying kick at Madara's head. He was able to detect and block it easily.

"_I've gotta calm down and focus. He's trying to get to me by making it look like he's in control of this battle. But I know we're backing him into a corner if he was so desperate to separate us." _Naruto told himself.

"I think it's time for a little more close combat." He looked to his two remaining clones. "Back me up and whatever you do, don't take your eyes off him."

The clones nodded and the three of them began their assault. "Aim for the eyes whenever you can. That's his weakness." The real Naruto instructed.

Naruto was the first to take on Madara, who had been awaiting their advance. Naruto began to punch rapidly at his chest and head but Madara was able to dodge and block all his attacks. Naruto tried a few kicks but those didn't work either. Then he did something Madara didn't expect. He jumped in the air and did some flips; Madara learned this was a distraction as he heard the sound of a clone charging at him with a Planetary Rasengan. Madara dodged to the side before the attack could hit him and into the waiting trap of another clone that had the same attack ready. Madara had no choice but to jump up to avoid the attack, and the real Naruto was waiting. He did one more flip to gather a last bit of momentum, and swung a drop kick at Madara's head. Madara couldn't dodge, so he settled for blocking as best he could with both his arms. The kick landed and sent him plummeting to the ground at a super-fast pace. He couldn't recover from the blow and had no choice but to brace for impact. But just as he was about to hit the ground, Sakura appeared under him, with an enhanced chakra punch waiting for him. She scored a direct hit on his back. The force of the punch was strong enough to create a gaping hole in his chest area and also sent him flying back towards Naruto, who was ready to take aim at his head with a punch of his own, but this time, Madara was able to counter.

"Amaterasu." He said calmly.

Naruto gasped as he knew he wouldn't be able to dodge and Amaterasu in mid-air, then an idea came to him.

"Almighty Push!" He shouted.

He didn't aim the push at Amaterasu though. Instead, he used it on himself, to propel him higher into the air and avoid the spot where Amaterasu began to form. Madara was already close to fully regenerating the hole in his chest, but Naruto wasn't about to let him off so easily. He formed a Rasenshiriken and threw it at him before he could regenerate completely. But Madara only began to absorb the attack. Naruto saw this as an opening. While Madara was focused on absorbing that attack, he'd swoop down and try to land another punch. But he wasn't fast enough. Before he could reach him, Madara had already absorbed the attack and began forming hand signs.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu." Madara announced.

He blew the fireball at Naruto which caused him to have to change tactics. Madara had used the force of his attack to propel himself back towards the ground and away from Naruto. The fireball was nearing Naruto so he opted to repel it.

"Almighty Push!" He said.

He bounced Madara's fireball back towards him, but Madara was ready to counter.

"Almighty Push."

"What?!" Naruto asked shocked.

The fireball was repelled towards him again and he couldn't use the push technique for another few seconds and he was too surprised to counter by absorbing it.

"Universal Pull!"

Naruto was surprised to feel himself being pulled towards the ground and away from the fireball. One of his clones had literally pulled him out of harm's way. Madara had landed safely on the ground. Sakura had tried to attack him again, but he forced her on the defensive when he tried to burn her with his Amaterasu. Naruto landed as well and wasted no time trying to remain on the offensive. He settled for a more direct approach by tossing kunai and shiriken at Madara's eyes.

"Almighty Push." Madara said unimpressed.

The weapons were pushed off to the side, but Naruto wasn't finished. He jumped up to reveal one of his clones running behind him, and tossed a few kunai and shiriken of his own. Madara couldn't use the same technique again for a few more seconds, so he had to dodge them. He jumped to the side of the weapons, but the next thing that happened surprised him. The last clone threw its own weapons at the ones the other clone threw, redirecting them at Madara, who was still in the process of dodging the same set that was now headed straight for his eyes. With quick thinking, He created a wood clone that detached from the front of his body and took the hit for him.

"I must admit. You almost had me there. You seem to have changed tactics and are wasting no time in coming after my eyes. But I'm afraid I won't make it easy on you." Madara said to his four opponents.

"Maybe, but at some point, you will slip up. And we will make you pay for it." Naruto retorted.

"Possibly, but it could also be you who slips up first." Madara countered.

Naruto didn't seem to have a comeback and remained silent.

"Enough talk then. Let's continue."

Madara took after Naruto, and Naruto did the same. They were headed for a clash when Naruto suddenly saw a small black hole begin to form around Madara's right eye. Madara seemed to notice this as well. He formed a wood clone and separated himself from it and jumped back. The wood clone's right eye had been sucked from its socket. Naruto immediately destroyed the wood clone with one punch. He looked behind him to see Kakashi standing a fair distance away. He had his Mangekyou Sharingan activated.

"K-Kakashi-Sensei!?" Naruto and Sakura said in unison.

"Thought I'd give my students one last hand. If it's a battle of eyes, I think I qualify to join in." Kakashi said.

**To Be Continued**

**AN: OK I know I said I'd be ending the battle but I just feel so bad for taking so long with an update. So I decided to give you guys something to read in the meantime while I REALLY finish the story. It's been far too long and you all deserve something for being this patient with me. As an added bonus, I'll even take some ideas you guys have and implement them in the next chapter (within reason of course). Obviously I can't take everyone's ideas; I'll pick the ones I think are the absolute best and would fit in the chapter. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't take an idea seriously. So yes. This is my gift to you, the readers, to have a part in this story for putting up with my long absence and not complaining. Haha! If you have an idea you want considered, send me a review or a private message and I will be more than happy to put it into consideration. I want to thank you all once again for your support. I know I keep saying this, but it means so much to me. Without all of you reading and giving me such nice reviews, I wouldn't be doing this at all. It's thanks to you that I write these fanfics for my enjoyment, but most importantly, for yours. You can expect the next chapter much faster. This I promise. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! So then, until next time! See ya!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heh Hey everybody! Crippleshot13 bringing you another chapter here. I know you guys want it bad. The only reason I stalled a little bit before bringing this out was because I wanted to see what ideas you guys threw out there to add to the story…I regret to say that only one person did this =.=…Also, I'm sorry to the person who did suggest it but I couldn't really follow what you were asking and I couldn't get through to you. So I'm sorry, but I couldn't add in your request. Also the fact that I've had so much school work, I haven't had time to write as much…but that's not important now! What is important is that the new chapter is here and you all get to read it!...That is what you want…right? If not, I have no idea why I'm writing this…ANYWAY, this WILL be the final battle of the war! I'm not gonna draw it out any longer. It was supposed to end last chapter, but as I said. I felt so bad not writing anything for three months that I wanted to give you guys a long chapter and it still didn't coincide with my idea for how to end it. SO, without further rambling, I present to you the final battle! Enjoy!**

**Peace at Last: The End of War**

A lone Mangekyo Sharingan stares down a pair of Rinnegan. Kakashi had appeared out of nowhere trying to get the upper hand by stealing one of Madara's eyes with his own in a surprise attack. The plan failed however and now the three veteran team 7 members look to take down their opponent together.

"Got a little impatient, huh sensei?"

"Sorry Naruto. I couldn't resist. How could I pass up an opportunity to fight alongside my students to save the world?" Kakashi responded.

Naruto chuckled "I guess that does sound pretty tempting. But are you sure you're okay to fight? You just finished fighting Obito."

"Don't worry. I had Ino heal me. And the fight wasn't so taxing…he was filled with rage. It wasn't hard to overpower him in his state of mind."

"Well in any case, We're glad to have you here sensei! Sakura said.

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "Thanks."

"Well isn't this touching?" Madara joked. "Your happy reunion however, won't be enough to stop me I'm afraid."

"Wanna bet!?" Naruto half yelled.

"Name your price." Madara countered.

"Your head will do." Was all Naruto responded.

"What?"

Suddenly, Madara heard a familiar sound coming from behind him. He whipped his head around to see on of Naruto's clones in mid-air with a Rasengan outstretched aiming for Madara's head. His eyes widened slightly.

"Almighty Push!"

The force of Madara's jutsu sent the clone flying in the opposite direction. The Rasengan had faded and the clone disappeared after it hit the ground.

"When did you-" was all Madara could manage to say.

He had turned his head around staring one of Sakura's fists down. It connected with his face and he was sent barreling in the same direction the clone had been sent. Madara hadn't been expecting that. He also didn't expect to see Naruto above him with another Rasengan ready.

"Damn! Not enough time!"

Naruto landed a direct hit in Madara's stomach, causing him to crash hard to the ground. He was momentarily stunned. Bits of Madara's stomach began regenerating.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura yelled.

"Already on it!"

Kakashi began using his eye and formed another small black hole on Madara's entire head this time.

"I wouldn't do that." Madara said.

"What?" Was Kakashi's response.

Madara punched Naruto in the stomach from the ground as his stomach finished healing and grabbed him, moving out of the way and holding Naruto in front of the jutsu instead.

Kakashi gasped. "Shit!"

He immediately canceled the attack causing Madara to smirk. He punched Naruto again and then kicked him to the side. Naruto recovered quickly by doing a backflip and slid backwards a few feet until he regrouped with his team.

"Sorry Naruto." Kakashi apologized.

"No worries. I'm fine."

"That's good. But what do we do about him? No matter what we do, he has a counter for everything. The only way this will work is if we get him to stop moving long enough for Kakashi-Sensei's jutsu to work." Sakura explained.

"Or maybe we don't." Kakashi said pondering.

"What do you mean Sensei?"

"He doesn't necessarily have to be still. If we can manage to move him into the Jutsu, that would work too. I would place my jutsu on a certain space, and all you two would need to do is force him into that spot and I can get him"

"Sounds like a good plan. How long will you need?" Naruto asked.

"I'll need to cast it right before he gets there so he doesn't catch on right away. But it will take about fifteen seconds for me to activate it completely. We're going to use this spot as the spot I'll activate it. I'll also place a kunai on the ground so you two don't lose sight of the spot. Remember. I need fifteen seconds, so make sure you account for that while you're fighting him."

"Right!" Naruto and Sakura said in unison.

"Whatever it is you're planning over there, it won't work. " Madara blatantly said.

"Please! Do you have any idea how many times I've heard that line before?" Naruto shot back.

"I'm guessing never."

"You guessed right then."

Sakura and Kakashi both sweat dropped. They couldn't believe how much of an idiot Naruto still was.

"_I'm in love with an idiot." _Sakura thought.

"_My best student is an idiot." _Kakashi thought as well.

"_**My host is an idiot.**_" Kurama chimed in.

"**What was that you bastard fox!?"** Naruto shouted at his partner.

"I'm fighting an idiot." Madara said, throwing in his own opinion.

"You too!? This isn't funny!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto! Focus!" Kakashi yelled.

Kakashi threw down the kunai signaling for Naruto and Sakura to begin their assault. Kakashi stayed behind and kept a close eye on Madara. Madara raised an eyebrow in confusion at the tactic, but his wondering was cut short as Naruto and Sakura came into striking distance Sakura jumped and attempted to land a flying punch on Madara. He jumped backwards to dodge, leaving the ground cracked and shattered where Sakura landed the punch. Naruto flashed behind him and attempted a round house kick, but Madara landed before he reached him and jumped straight up. However, one of Naruto's clones had anticipated this move and landed a drop kick on him.

"Seems I forgot about the clones." Madara stated as he plummeted to the ground.

He flipped so he could land on his feet and as he did, Naruto's other clone was rushing towards him with a giant Rasengan. The clone jumped in the air and aimed the chakra sphere at its target. Madara once again jumped backwards to avoid it. Pushing him towards Kakashi's direction.

"Hmm?" Madara hummed.

Naruto's clone, however, didn't attack right away. It had anticipated Madera dodging and landed on its feet. It then dashed after Madara at top speed, reaching him in a matter of seconds.

"Almighty push."

Madara had pushed Naruto's clone away with ease, causing it to disappear. But the real Naruto appeared in front of him the instant Madara used the technique. Kakashi saw this as his opportunity and began to use his Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Back at ya!" Naruto yelled at Madara.

Madara was suddenly pushed back farther and much faster. Kakashi was almost ready to use the technique, until something caught his eye. Madara was making hand signs while flying towards him. It didn't take him long to realize what was happening and he immediately canceled the technique, and jumped backwards making his own hand signs. Madara finished his and flipped around to face Kakashi.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

Madara blew a giant fireball in Kakashi's direction. Luckily for him, he had just finished his hand signs as well.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Kakashi landed and slammed his hands to the ground, causing a giant stone wall to shoot out from in front of him to block the attack. The fireball collided with the wall and at first, it seemed like the moves were even. However, slowly but surely, the wall started to crack and the fireball started to push through. Kakashi panicked, knowing there wasn't enough time to dodge.

"Universal Pull!"

Kakashi felt himself being yanked out of the way against his will and landed a few feet next to Naruto just as the fireball had broken through the wall.

"You alright, Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked concerned.

"I'm fine, Naruto. Thanks for getting me out of there." Kakashi replied.

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement and turned his attention back to Madara, who was already poised for his next attack.

"What do we do now? He saw through our plan. And we don't have another one ready."

Sakura and Nauto's last remaining clone had joined them at that moment. "It's no good. He always seems to have the upper hand on us. No matter what we plan, he always counters. We may outnumber him, but he has the edge in strategy and counter maneuvers."

"Damnit…What do we do? **Do you have any ideas, Kurama?"**

"_**Nothing that worked on him while he was alive will work now. It's as your sensei said earlier. His only weakness now is his eyes. You have to somehow take them from him for him to lose his powers."**_

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh. "**But we can't get to them! How can we take them from him if he's always one step ahead of us?"**

"_**You've been through many hopeless situations before. This one is no different. If I know you as well as I think, you will find a way."**_

"**Heh, thanks. Of course you helped me out a bunch too."**

"_**Can't argue there. But I'm still here and I'm still willing to help."**_

"**OK. Then let's beat the crap out of this guy and win this war!"**

Naruto ran towards Madara headstrong and without a plan. Just like mostly every other fight he's ever been in. It seems to have worked so far. So why ruin a good thing? Sakura and Kakashi were stunned at the sudden change in his approach. Naruto's clone followed him into battle looking to assist his creator in any way he can. Kakashi sighed and then smiled under his mask.

"Just like the good old days." He said.

Kakashi then followed suit, leaving Sakura behind. She smiled and chuckled a little bit.

"Yeah…just like the good old days."

She looked at her hands and saw the chakra cloak that still surrounded her. She felt safe in it and could feel a part of Naruto surrounding her. He gave her this power so she could help him. Not take on the entire fight himself. He wanted her by his side, so he gave her a portion of his power. She vowed right then and there that she wouldn't waste it and will help him beat Madara, or die trying. She clenched her fists and looked up to see Naruto, his clone, and Kakashi ganging up on Madara. It looked as though Madara was holding his own, but at a closer look, she could tell that he was being thrown off balance due to the randomness of their attacks. It wasn't methodical or planned. It was Naruto just being Naruto and dragging anyone along for the ride, including her. Sakura dashed into the fray as well, looking for any sort of opening she could find. And she found it. Kakashi had aimed to strike Madara in the stomach with his Lightning Blade while Naruto came at him from behind with a Giant Rasengan. Seeing no other option, Madara had jumped into the air. His only mistake was keeping his eyes focused on those two. Sakura jumped into the air towards Madara and did a few front flips while extending her right leg. Madara felt a presence above him and looked up. But it was too late. Sakura landed a drop kick on his face and sent him crashing to the ground in a blur due to the extra power she got from Naruto. She smiled down at Naruto and Kakashi who both gave her a thumbs-up.

"Nice shot Sakura! Glad that wasn't me for once." Naruto joked.

Sakura landed next to him and gave him a light punch in the shoulder. "Well it would happen to you a lot less If you didn't piss me off so much."

"Noted." Naruto said, a sweat drop visible on the back of his head.

Kakashi looked over to where Madara had landed. The earth around him was shattered and he appeared to be unconscious. "Well, now would be a better time than any to wrap this up."

He walked over to him and started to use his Mangekyo, while the other three stared in suspense. Suddenly, Naruto's clone felt uneasy and thought he saw Madara's left hand twitch. It almost froze as it saw a sharp wooden spike rising rapidly underground. It rushed forwards and pushed Kakashi out of the way just as the spike emerged from the ground. It pierced the clone and everyone stared wide eyed at the scene. The clone went limp and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The spike retreated slowly back into the ground and Madara stood up.

"How disappointing. If it weren't for your clone's keen eyes, your precious teacher would have been the one impaled." He looked over at Sakura. "That's quite the kick you've got there. If I were actually alive, I'd say that would have done a lot of damage. If not, killed me."

All three of them stared at Madara in disbelief. Sakura put everything she had into that kick. And with the extra boost to her strength thanks to her chakra cloak, she couldn't comprehend that her attack did next to nothing. Was this what it was like to have an immortal body? No pain? No exhaustion? Unlimited chakra? How do they stop the unstoppable?

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take my turn now." Madara said nonchalantly.

He disappeared from their view for a split second, but Naruto was able to follow his movements. Although, he wasn't fast enough to counter attack as Madara appeared in front of Sakura and landed an uppercut to her stomach, lifting her slightly into the air. Sakura bent forward and coughed up some saliva from the force of the blow. Madara followed up his punch by jumping to the height Sakura was hovering and landed a spinning roundhouse kick to her side, sending her flying away. Kakashi, enraged at seeing his precious student being handled like a rag doll, formed another Lightning Blade and jumped at Madara. He simply stepped to the side as Kakashi came barreling down thrusting his hand into the ground. Madara bent over and placed his hands on the ground, causing a giant tree root to sprout from the ground and wrap itself around Kakashi's midsection. It lifted him off the ground, freeing his hand from the hole it was in and began to crush him. Kakashi tried to stifle and painful scream as he could feel his ribs cracking.

"Let him go you bastard!" Naruto shouted.

He formed a mini Rasenshiriken and threw it at the root, slicing it in half and freeing Kakashi.

"Thanks Naruto."

"No problem. Go check on Sakura and see if she's alright. Have her heal you if need be. I'll hold Madara off 'till you get back."

"Got it."

Kakashi made a break for where Sakura had flown off to, but Madara appeared in front of him, blocking his path.

"Going somewhere?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

Madara raised an eyebrow at his confidence. Kakashi then ducked revealing Naruto inches away from him with a Planetary Rasengan. It connected with his chest and started ripping away at it.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Naruto yelled as he pushed his attack further into Madara's chest.

Just as he was about to reach the maximum length his arm could stretch, Naruto shot an extra chakra arm from his hand and sent Madara straight up into the air, only to have it make a U-turn and slam him into the ground.

"Go now before he recovers again!"

Kakashi obliged and ran towards Sakura who was just getting up from the attack. Once Naruto saw Kakashi safely made it to Sakura, he turned his attention back to Madara, though he had been keeping an eye on him with his Byakugan powers just in case. Sure enough, Madara was close to finishing his regeneration and slowly staggered to his feet. He brushed himself off and spoke.

"Don't you have any other moves besides that boring blue ball? Even with different variations, it gets old really fast." He quipped

Naruto's eyes became completely white and his mouth turned square. "Shut up! If it's so boring then why do you keep getting hit by it?" He countered, pointing accusingly at him.

Madara didn't seem to have a rebuttal at first, until he began to chuckle. Naruto's features returned to normal and his tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"What's so funny?"

"It just amuses me how similar you are to the First Hokage. He was always so quick to get offended. Except in his case, he would always get depressed. "

Naruto relaxed a bit and straightened up. Madara continued.

"There's never been anybody besides him who could match me in combat. Yet here you are. Keeping up with me blow for blow. Throughout this entire battle, I've been having flashbacks to all the times I fought him. I don't think I've ever felt this alive since I was…alive." He chuckled a bit more. "Tell me, Naruto. Why is it you fight? What is it you strive for?"

Naruto stared at him for a moment, remaining silent. He stared into Madara's Rinnegan eyes searching for a motive or evil intention behind these questions. Yet he could detect nothing hostile. He decided to answer him.

"I fight to protect all these people. To protect the future of this, and the next generation. But mostly, my home. The Hidden Leaf Village. I plan on becoming Hokage someday. The best there ever was. Not too long ago, I was training to become a master of the Toad Sage Art, so I could become stronger and protect myself, my friends, and the village from the Akastuke. While I was away , my home was destroyed by them. Now that I'm stronger, I won't ever let that happen again. I know you tried to destroy it yourself. But I won't let you touch it. If you even try and hurt the village, I won't hesitate to strike you down." That last part got Madara's attention. "That's a promise. And I never go back on my word." He pointed his thumb at his chest. "That's my Ninja way!" He finished.

Madara stared at Naruto. Studying him intensely. He lowered his head and then he smiled. But it wasn't an evil smile. It was more of a sad smile.

"You know, Hashirama said something similar to me when he stabbed me in the back during our last fight. He said he wouldn't hesitate to strike anyone down who threatened the harmony he helped create in the Leaf Village. You may be from a distant generation, but he definitely passed on his ideals before he died, for them to be so strong in you even now. It would seem…that I was wrong about his ideals. I thought they would only lead him down a dark path and to his demise. But you've proved me wrong."

Naruto didn't understand what was happening. Why was Madara suddenly so interested in the similarities between him and the First? One minute, they're fighting to the death, and the next, Madara is reminiscing about the old days. What caused this sudden change?

Madara looked up once more. But his eyes had changed. They still held the same Rinnegan, but Naruto could feel there was something different about them. A new kind of resolve maybe?

"Come at me with everything you have. Don't hold anything back. I want to see if you truly have inherited his will. Show me the strength your ideals give you. If you truly want to protect these people, and your home…our home, then prove to me you are worthy to be compared to my greatest rival and to wield those eyes you possess."

Naruto was stunned to say the least. Madara's demeanor had completely changed. What used to be hatred and rage had now turned into a burning desire to face a worthy opponent after so long. Naruto couldn't help but simile a little. At that moment, Sakura and Kakashi had rejoined Naruto.

"Naruto, what are you doing? Why aren't you attacking?" Sakura asked.

"Come on Naruto. Let's go. We can still beat him." Kakashi said, taking on a battle stance.

"Thank you guys but…I'm going to fight him alone from here on out."

Kakashi and Sakura both looked at him in shock.

"What are you talking about?! We have a better shot at winning if all three of us work together!" Sakura protested.

"She's right Naruto! What's gotten into you?" Kakashi asked.

"It's hard to explain…but I think there's something different about him now. I don't sense any hatred coming from him. It's like he's changed. And he wants to fight me one on one to determine if I'm worthy of being compared to the First Hokage."

Sakura and Kakashi stayed quiet for a moment. They both looked at Naruto, while he kept his gaze on Madara. Admitting defeat, Kakashi closed his eyes and nodded.

"Sakura, let's go. This isn't our fight anymore."

"But Kakashi-Sensei!"

"It's alright. He'll be fine. Things have changed. Now come on. We'll watch on the sidelines from now on."

Sakura wanted to protest and looked to Naurto for an answer. He was still staring at Madara, but he nodded.

"It's fine Sakura. Kakashi-Sensei is right."

"…OK…but Naruto, promise me…promise me you'll win and come back to us alive."

He finally turned to face her and gave her is trade mark grin. He gave her the same thumbs up he had when he promised to bring Sasuke back to the village.

"It's a promise! And this time, I won't let you down!" He said

Sakura ran up to him and hugged him. He was surprised at first but smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm holding you to it." She said.

She broke the hug and jumped away with Kakashi, leaving Naruto and Madara alone to face each other.

"Are you sure you should be making such a promise?"

Naurto smirked. "I told you, I never go back on my word. I don't intend to lose."

This caused Madara to smirk as well. "Well spoken."

They dashed toward each other at the same time each electing to punch. They both brought their fists back to strike, but as they followed through, they both used their free hand to catch the other's attack. They struggled a bit to overpower the other, but neither was giving any leverage, so they broke off. Madara began flying through hand signs. Much to his surprise, Naruto was doing the same exact signs. They both ended the signs at the same time.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" They yelled simultaneously.

The both brought their index and middle fingers to the side of their lips and blew a giant fireball at the other. They clashed and fought for dominance. When one would seem to be winning, the other would push it back. Although, it was apparent that Madara's attack had the upper hand due to Naruto's lack of practice with the attack. He only copied the attack by watching Madara use it so many times thanks to the Sharingan portion of his eyes. Madara's fireball began to overpower Naruto's and push forward. Madara didn't expect what happened next. Naruto's fireball suddenly became bigger and more violent. It rapidly beat back Madara's attack and it was headed straight for him. Madara canceled the attack and jumped out of the way as Naruto's attack grazed him slightly on the side.

"How did you do that? My attack was clearly stronger."

"Heh heh heh. I knew yours would be stronger if I faced you head on with only that. So I gave my fireball an extra boost by pumping some of my wind chakra into it. If I recall correctly, Wind helps increase the power of fire. So I decided to give it a shot." He explained.

"I see…you really are full of surprises. Well at least it was different from your Rasengans."

"What have you got against my Rasengans!?"

"Well it's just…I was beginning to think that you could only use those and shadow clones...I haven't seen you use anything else besides your Summoning Jutsu."

"Oh come one! I've practically used every technique the Rinnegan gave me!"

"I suppose you have a point. However," Madara got into another fighting stance. "it's gonna take a lot more than that to beat me. Don't forget. I can use all those moves too."

Naruto had to admit that Madara had a point. They were more or less even when it came to using their eye jutsus. That's the main reason they stopped trying to use them so much. It wasn't getting them anywhere. Still, regardless of that fact, Madara still had the upper hand. He was immortal and had unlimited chakra. Naruto on the other hand, despite having a great amount himself, was still human. He had limits. And pretty soon, no matter how powerful he was, he was still gonna reach them. Still, he was determined to prove that he was worthy to be compared to the First and perhaps prove he's even better.

"Shall we continue?" Madara asked.

Naruto formed his signature hand sign. "Let's." He said, creating three clones.

Two of the clones rushed Madara. But before they reached him, the branched off to the right and left of him, revealing the third clone coming right at him. The three clones advanced from the right, left, and front all ready to attack. Madara was carefully keeping an eye on each of them, making sure not to be taken off guard. The clone on the right jumped into the air, and the one on the left began to slide to the ground. The one coming from the front stayed his course. Madara seemed to have been thrown off by the confusing actions of the three. He couldn't tell what they were planning. He decided to first avoid the attack from the clone on the left, who attempted to sweep his feet out from under him. He hopped a few inches off the ground to dodge thinking that the clone would slide under him. But he was surprised when the clone dug a kunai into the ground right from under him and kicked upward. It landed a blow to his stomach sending him higher into the air.

"NA-" The clone said.

The clone that was attacking from the front jumped up to Madara and upper cut him in the chin, sending him even higher.

"RU-" The second clone said.

The last clone waited for Madara to become level with him and did a back flip kick to his stomach when he reached it, sending him even higher.

"TO-" The third clone said.

Madara was able to open his eyes finally to see the real Naruto waiting above him, leg raised in the air. Naruto brought down his leg with full force, his heal smashing Madara in the face, sending him plummeting and crashing into the ground.

"Uzumaki Barrage!" The real Naruto shouted.

"_I haven't used that attack in a long time. I'm surprised it worked." _He thought to himself.

Madara must have felt that attack because he struggled to get back to his feet. He staggered out of the crater he left from his impact and waited for the real Naruto to land with the rest of his clones.

"That was some combo attack. I'm impressed. Bonus points for the name."

"Why do I get the feeling you're mocking me about the name?"

Madara said nothing, giving Naruto his answer. Madara proceeded to form new hand sings that Naruto hadn't seen him use yet.

Madara finished his seals and stated, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique!"

He took in a deep breath and shot out four fireballs. Naruto seemed familiar with the type of attack, remembering how Saskue used a similar technique, the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. However, he was shocked to see that the fireballs turned into dragon heads and were headed right for him and his clones. They each dodged in a different direction as all four dragon heads missed their targets. Their relief suddenly turned to fear as the fireballs made a complete turn around and were, once again, chasing them down. Madara was able to control these fireballs even after they were released. The four began taking immediate evasive action. Jumping and weaving out of the way of the attacks. They were all doing fine until an unfortunate run in occurred between two clones. They weren't looking where they were going and ran into each other. Two of the flames caught them and they disappeared.

"Crap! I better watch my step." Naruto said out loud to himself.

Naruto and his remaining clone were doing better than the other two clones. Although, they couldn't shake their new friends. Then the real Naruto got an idea. He quickly changed course and ran toward his clone. When he reached it, he grabbed its collar and jumped into the air with it, causing the two fireballs to collide with one another. Naruto wiped his forehead with his sleeve and sighed in relief. He and his clone dropped back down to the ground and faced Madara once more.

"Very quick thinking. Too bad your other clones weren't as smart as you."

Naruto scoffed and began going through hand signs. Madara observed the signs and recognized them right away. Naruto had copied another one of his techniques.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

Naruto took as deep a breath as he could manage and then blew a giant wall of fire from his mouth headed right for the Uchiha. It was too wide for him to be able to dodge to either side of him; and he would be wide open for an attack if he tried to absorb a jutsu that large. So he elected to jump. He was just about over the wall when Naruto's clone began to form wind chakra within him. He blew out the wind chakra from his mouth and aimed it at the stream of fire coming from the real Naruto's mouth, while the real one added some of his own chakra, doubling the effect. The wall rose sharply over Madara who had no chance of dodging anymore. The fire started flailing around wildly and he was hit with the attack head on and was surrounded in the flames. Naruto halted the attack and was breathing heavily. All these attacks were starting to take their toll on his chakra.

"_**Naruto**__, __**I know you're strong, but even you have limits. You can't keep this up forever." **_Kurama spoke.

"**I know. What's worse, this guy doesn't run out chakra. And he's too powerful to be sealed by anyone in the alliance. I know he's changed now, but I doubt he'll willingly be sealed away."**

"_**Right. I know him and he's not one to roll over and give you any leeway. Crap. Get ready. He's regenerating**_**."**

Naruto refocused his attention to where the fire was still burning violently. Kurama was right. Naruto could see Madara's body reforming after it had been severely burned. Finally, Madara had reassembled and started walking forward.

"I really ought to watch out for that kind of combo when you use those types of attack." He said.

Naruto was still panting. "Heh…pretty…good huh?" He said between breaths.

"Indeed, but it seems like it's taken a lot out of you. I assume you're beginning to run low on chakra?"

"What…makes you…say that?" Naruto asked, panting as hard as ever while managing a chuckle.

"A few things. But, I'm slightly disappointed." He admitted.

Naruto looked confused did he do something wrong?

"You are strong, and there are plenty of similarities between you and Hashirama. But, he never would have used an attack that consumes so much of his chakra when he knew that it wouldn't work. You should have known I would regenerate after that attack. Yet you still used it and wasted your chakra. You have a long way to go." He finished lecturing.

His words irritated Naruto a little, but not because they were offensive. But because he knew they were true. He should have thought more about the consequences before he tried an attack like that. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a large amount of pain coming from his stomach. Madara had kicked him in his stomach and flung him across the ground.

"If you don't have the sense to have realized that earlier, then maybe I was wrong in thinking you could live up to my expectations."

Naruto lifted himself so that he was resting a knee on the ground for support. He clutched his stomach and stared at Madara, breathing harder now. He wasn't going to give up. He promised Sakura he'd win and also promised Madara that he'd protect the village. He wasn't going to lose with so much at stake. Even if he was low on chakra, that wasn't going to stop him.

"Don't count me out yet…I'm not gonna lose here…" Naruto got to his feet. "No matter what you do to me, no matter how much you may hurt me, I will never surrender! And even if I somehow go down-" Naruto pivots and points in the direction of the Alliance, "I still have all my friends and allies waiting to take you down!"

Madara was impressed with Naruto's determination. Still, he wasn't going to hand him an easy victory. He would make him work for it until he collapsed.

"Well then, show me the extent of your determination." Madara prepared himself, "If you're going to be the next Hokage, then prove to me you have what it takes to succeed your predecessors."

"_I gotta save what chakra I have left. For now, it'll have to be a strict taijutsu battle."_

A voice came from behind Madara, "Before you make it seem that he's lost, you should remember to account for everything and everyone."

Madara turned to see Naruto's clone lightly pressing a kunai against him. He smirked slightly.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten you, if that's what you were implying."

"Naruto's clone smirked too. "I would hope not. Cause unlike my friend over there, I'm not low on chakra quite yet."

"Oh? Is that so? Then this won't a disappointment after all."

The clone jumped back just as wooden spikes shot up from the ground, all aiming to impale it.

"It's gonna take a lot more than that to get rid of me."

Madara turned to face the copy, "I have no doubt about that. I wouldn't expect anything less.

"Then you should also know not to turn your back on your enemy!"

Madara whipped around to find Naruto flying towards him, fist cocked back, ready to strike. Madara ducked just as Naruto swung his arm forward and aimed a punch upward and connected with his chest. Naruto gasped in pain but then smiled as he poofed into a log.

"Substitution? Clever. Simple, yet effective." Madara outwardly thought.

He looked around for the real one, but noticed that the clone was missing as well. He looked to his right, then his left, then up. He saw Naruto plummeting from above ready to strike with a kunai. He crouched and started making hand signs. However, he was stopped short when he felt the ground beneath him begin to crack. Just as he looked down, the real Naruto emerged from the ground and landed an uppercut to his jaw. Madara tried to resist, but the force of the punch was too strong. He was sent shooting into the air right at the awaiting Naruto copy. It then jammed the kunai into Madara's left shoulder and pushed down as hard as it could. Once the kunai was well embedded into Madara's shoulder, the clone jumped away, which confused him. He then heard a faint fizzle. His eyes widened and looked to his left. There was a paper bomb attached to the kunai, and just when he had noticed, it exploded. The clone landed next to his creator and watched the scene unfold. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, half of Madara's body was missing, his upper body completely nonexistent, while his lower body lay on the ground motionless after being knocked out of the sky.

"And now we wait." Naruto said to his clone.

"Yeah, but shouldn't we come up with another strategy once he revives himself?"

"Good point. All right, let's brainstorm."

Madara was slowly putting himself back together. Little by little, his upper body was being restored. Finally, his head reformed and he snapped his eyes open. He slowly lifted himself off the ground and looked around.

"Now where could he be hiding this time?" He pondered.

"Right behind you."

Madara turned around to see Naruto standing a few feet behind him, arms crossed and staring at him.

"Am I addressing the real Naruto, or his clone?" Madara asked.

"I'm the real one." He responded.

"I see. So then where is your clone hiding?"

"He's not." Came a voice from behind him once more.

Madara looked over his shoulder to see the clone copying his creator's stance behind him as well. He turned his head back around to face the real Naruto again.

"Am I supposed to feel intimidated?" Madara asked sarcastically.

"Are you?" He asked in return.

Madara looked between the two, wondering what they were planning. He smiled and faced the real Naruto again.

"Not in the slightest." Was his response.

Naurto smiled too. "Good. I wouldn't want you to be."

With that, he disappeared from view. Or to a normal person he had. But for Madara, he was able to slightly keep up with his movements thanks to the Rinnegan. Soon, however, he seemed to be moving twice as fast. Madara didn't seem fazed though. He assumed that the clone had joined in on the rush, making it seem like Naruto was moving faster. He watched them for a few seconds, trying to distinguish a pattern in their movements so he could counter. He had almost given up when he noticed that every three seconds there was a spot where the two overlapped with each other. He waited for it to happen again and then he sprinted in the direction of where the overlap occurred. When another three seconds had gone by, he brought out his right arm and landed a haymaker on one of the speedy ninjas. The Naruto he hit winced in pain as Madara brought his arm forward and slamming him into the ground.

"It would seem you're the real one." He stated.

"Guilty as charged."

"You're fast, but you're still no match for my Rinnegan. No matter how fast you are, I'll still be able to see you."

Naruto smirked. "I know. And I was counting on that."

"What?"

Madara turned around behind him to see Naruto's clone creating a large Rasengan with its chakra arms. It lifted it over its back and got on all fours.

"Ready!" It yelled.

Madara turned back to face the real Naruto who was still smirking. Suddenly, two chakra arms sprouted from him and grabbed Madara. He was taken by surprise and the chakra arms began pushing him towards the giant blue sphere. The chakra arms kept picking up speed until it slammed Madara into the ball at full force.

"Rasenkyugan!" Both Narutos shouted.

Madara was continually being pushed into the sphere, while the sphere itself was trying to force him away. This stalemate caused Madara to continue to take massive amounts of damage. By that time, Madara had had enough.

"Almighty Push!"

The clone and the Rasengan were pushed a fair distance away, while the chakra arm holding Madara disintegrated. He dropped to his feet and then to one knee for support. His body began recovering from the damage it just took.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto shouted while running towards Madara

Madara staggered to his feet, not fully recovered and prepared for Naruto's attack. From the way Naruto was moving, he planned to attack strictly with taijutsu. Naruto reached Madara and threw a few punches. Madara barely dodged them. Naruto threw a right hook, Madara blocked it. Naruto threw an uppercut, he leaned back to avoid it. He tried a round house kick and Madara ducked under that. Naruto had him on the defensive and that's exactly what he wanted. The recovery pace was much slower for Madara while he had to worry about avoiding Naruto's attacks. Madara decided that he had to go on the offensive if he wanted to change the pace. When Naruto made to kick him, he grabbed the side of his leg and tossed him over his shoulder. Naruto did a few flips in the air to make himself upright and as soon as he landed, he was the one on the defensive. Madara was throwing a barrage of punches and kicks as fast as he could. But Naruto easily kept up with his attacks. He would dodge and weave between punches and block kicks with his arms and sometimes throw in a few counter punches as well. They were deadlocked in a hand to hand stand off and no side seemed to show signs of letting up. Finally, they each exchanged a powerful fist bump that created a small shockwave around them and they separated. Both were panting now.

"Well Naruto, I didn't think it was possible for this body to get tired. But it seems you're full of surprises." Madara complimented.

"Yeah well, just because you're tired, doesn't mean you're finished. I highly doubt it would be that easy."

"While that is true, I feel as though this battle will be coming to a close soon. Who will be victorious, I don't know. But whosever will is stronger will win this fight. That being said…"

Madara weaved through three hand signs and when he finished, the ground started to rumble violently. Naruto was trying to keep his balance as best he could. When he looked up, his eyes widened and if possible, his skin turned pale under the shroud of Kurama's chakra. Three giant meteors were headed straight for their position. One in the middle, and another on either side of it.

"Let's see if you can stop this: Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Star, times three."

Naruto didn't know what to do. He couldn't possibly stop all three of those by himself.

"_**Naruto, focus! I know you can't stop them on your own, but I can help! Turn into the replica of me and fire Tailed Beast Bombs at them until they break apart! Then pick off the small pieces from the destroyed meteors!" **_Kurama suggested.

"**O-Ok!"**

Naruto focused and activated the Kyuubi's replica. He slammed his chakra arms into the ground and dug in his claws as deep as they would go. He started forming the Tailed Beast Bomb as large as he could. Once it was big enough, he fired it at the meteor in the middle. However, he didn't stop there. He started forming the next one before the bomb even hit the first meteor. When the bomb finally hit and in a giant explosion, destroyed it. He fired off the next one at the meteor to the left of the now destroyed one and repeated the action for the final meteor. After destroying the final two, He started firing repeated bombs, second after second, at the debris. Each bomb hit a piece of the destroyed meteors, destroying more fragments and turning them to smaller ones. This went on for about five minutes and Naruto was getting exhausted; and he was sure Kurama couldn't keep it up much longer either. Finally, it seemed like all the fragments had been destroyed and Naruto relaxed.

"You missed one." Was all Madara said.

"Wha-"

"_**NARUTO, ABOVE YOU!"**_ Kurama shouted at him.

Naruto looked up and saw a large chunk on one of the meteors headed right for him. There was no time to make a bomb to destroy it and it collided with him. A giant boom could be heard from the impact and it created a large dust cloud that covered the entire area. Sakura and Kakashi stared in horror as it seemed that the meteor piece might have crushed Naruto. There was no movement in the dust cloud as far as they could tell. The entire alliance was now murmuring to each other, worried if Naruto was alright. Sakura dropped to her knees and tears began to fall from her eyes as she continued to stare at where the collision happened.

"No…Naruto….you can't…" Sakura said.

"Sakura…" Kakashi said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"No…you promised…you can't be gone…"

She started sobbing now. "Naruto…please…NARUTO!" she shouted.

Kakashi closed his eyes and turned his head away. "_Naruto…_"

Madara stood motionless staring at the scene in front of him. "Is that really all it takes to finish you? Maybe you were a lot weaker than I made you out to be."

"You shut the hell up." Came a voice from the dust cloud.

"Hmm?"

Kakashi shot his head around and starred at the cloud. He focused his Sharingan as hard as he could for any sign of movement. The dust started to clear and he could see the outline of the Kyuubi replica.

He shook Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura, look!" He told her.

Sakura stopped sobbing and looked at the cloud that was starting to disappear. Her eyes widened and she smiled with relief. In front of them stood Naruto holding onto the giant piece of rock with his chakra arms. He was holding it above Kurama's back while he was bent over for support.

"Let me correct you. It's gonna take a lot more than this-" He started to lift himself up, "to finish me off!" He shouted.

"So it would seem." Madara said.

"ARRRRRAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto cried out as he lifted himself all the way to a standing position.

Kurama's chakra look a-like let out a large roar as Naruto threw the giant rock at Madara. Madara stared at it unimpressed and as it drew closer, all he said was,

"Almighty Push."

The giant meteor fragment stopped in its tracks and hovered a few inches from Madara's face. It then shot backwards away from him and into the air once more. However, it didn't go far, as a chakra arm punched right through it and straight for Madara. He jumped back to avoid it and through the hole in the fragment, Naruto emerged in his regular Tailed Beast mode. He had an enraged expression on his face as he flew towards Madara at blinding speed. His fist was cocked back ready to punch. Madara got into a defensive stance, bracing for the impact.

"Madara!" Naruto yelled as he shot his fist forward.

"Hmph." Was Madara's reply.

Madara brought his arms into an X form as Naruto's fist made contact with them. The attack resulted in an ear piercing booming sound and a crater to be created where the impact occurred. The two stared into the other's eyes. Naruto was glaring daggers and Madara's were calm. Madara smiled.

"You truly are something…Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto had a quizzical look on his face. "What?"

Madara relaxed his arms and Naruto harmlessly dropped to the ground. The same quizzical look plastered to his face.

"That was the strongest attack I had left in my arsenal. And you handled it just as I had hoped."

"What are you saying?" Naruto asked.

"I'm saying that you've bested every move I could possibly throw at you. Every move I could possibly throw at Hashirama. You've proved to me that you're just as strong as my old rival. And that's all I could ever ask for besides fighting him one more time. Naruto…will you grant me one last request?"

"Uhh…sure."

"I want to have one final clash with you. Your strongest jutsu against one of my attacks. I have no reason to remain in this world if there are people like you who could stop me from taking it over. So I want to leave with one final attack from my newest rival." Madara said to him, offering his hand.

Naruto stared at Madara's hand, then looked to his eyes. They were sincere and showed no signs of betrayal. Naruto smiled wide and took his hand with his own. They shook and then jumped apart. Naruto started to form his Rasenshuriken. On his opposite side, Madara began to cover his hand with wood. It started to form into a drill and it was covered in another two layers of wood. Madara's drill like arm now began to spin rapidly.

"Come Naruto, this will be our final standoff!" Madara said to him.

"All right! Here we go!" He replied.

The two dashed at each other at the same time. Both smirking as they approached.

"_**You're really amazing kit. You managed to warm even the iciest heart this world has ever known. Your master would be proud."**_ Kurama complimented.

"**Heh…thanks Kurama. I bet he would be too."** Naruto said back.

Naruto brought his attack forward just as Madara did. The two attacks collided, causing a large shockwave. The sound of the drilling could be heard battling the rapid spinning whirl of Naruto's Rasenshuriken. Both sides didn't show any sign of letting up as they fought for leverage over the other. Madara's face sported a look of shock, but the he tilted his head down and smiled again.

"_Thank you…Naruto."_ He said in his mind as he closed his eyes.

Just then, the Rasenshiriken began to start cutting away at the wooden drill. Slowly at first, but gradually pushing farther. It started to tear through Madara's arm, then to his chest, and soon, the rest of his body began to disintegrate. Naruto jumped back as his attack went into its final stage. The Rasenshuriken then exploded into a giant ball of wind chakra as it tore through whatever was left of Madara and the ground around him. Naruto watched with a sad smile as the attack finally died down and eventually disappeared. There was nothing left where Madara stood but a hole in the ground. He didn't start to regenerate which meant that it was finally over.

"I did it…" Naruto looked to the sky. "It's over. I'm so close to realizing your dream Pervy Sage…There's just one more thing I have to do."

**To Be Continued**

**A.N.: Finally! . I finally finished this! You have no idea what I've been through to get this done for you guys. Haha **** but I finally did it. I'm sorry it took this long. I got sick with something else entirely this time. That plus the work piled on with school really held this back. I know I promised all of you it would be out a lot faster…although it technically was compared to the last chapter. But my point being, I'm sorry it took so long. I hope you enjoy it. I know I'll probably get flames for the way I ended things, but hey. Naruto is trying to rid this world of hatred for the world's sake, and to make his master proud. So I find it appropriate. I won't reject flames as I see them as criticism I can use to better my stories, so if you have a flame, let me have it XD. But thank you all, really, for being so patient. I really couldn't ask for better readers than you guys. This story is coming to a close, So I'll be taking requests for any other stories you guys would like me to write. But nothing too crazy for now cause I have a lot of school work to catch up on. I'll gladly take one-shots or maybe a story that would go to two or three chapters. So PM me or leave a request in a review if there's something you'd like me to write ****. And let's see if you guys can guess where I'm going with this next chapter ;). If everything goes accordingly, the next chapter may be the last. However, If I find myself able, I could split it into two chapters. Thank you so much again for reading. I look forward to reading your reviews. SO…until next time, CYA!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Heh hey everybody! Oi'm BEEEEEeeeeck! XD Crippleshot13 here to bring you the second to last chapter of this story. I originally planned to end it all in this chapter, but it was brought to my attention that I should do an Epilogue after I finish things here. The Epilogue won't be a long chapter. Just a little something for closure. Anyway, I wanna take a minute to thank all of you who read and review my stories. I've been through a lot in the past few months and it always makes my day better when I see the kind words you give me. It makes the time and effort I put into these stories worth it. I love communicating with all of you to let you know how much I appreciate what you do. This story would never have been written if it weren't for all the support I get. So thank you so much. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's been running through my head throughout this entire story. So I shall delay you no longer! On to the story!**

**Unbreakable Bonds**

Everything was silent. Only a gentle breeze breaking it. Naruto continued to stare at the sky for a while. The entire Alliance looked on in amazement, yet no one dared disturb him. The breeze felt refreshing to Naruto. The war was over, and the world was safe. But…there was one thing he still had to finish. A promise he still had to keep. A bond weakened by time. But there was still time to strengthen it. For it to grow. And Naruto was determined to make that happen.

"It's time…Sasuke." He said silently.

He let his shroud dissolve in the wind, returning him to his normal state. As it dissolved, it felt like a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. He sighed and smiled. Kurama then spoke to him.

"_**I'm proud of you, kit. You saved the world and restored peace. It's just like that old pervert would have wanted."**_

Naruto chuckled at the way he referenced his master. _"Yeah…it is. But I could have never made this happen without you. Your power saved us all."_

"_**No, Naruto. I merely shared my power with you. It's what you did with that power, how you used that power, that saved us."**_

"_How about we both helped save it in our own way and call it even?"_

"_**Whatever you say, brat."**_ Kurama said, chuckling.

"_OY! You damn fox! We just saved the world and you're still calling me a brat!" _Naruto shouted.

"_**Look who's talking! You keep calling me a 'damn fox'!"**_ Kurama snapped back.

"_You wanna fight again you over grown fur ball?!"_

"_**Bring it on! I'll kick your ass for sure this time!"**_ He quipped. "_**Mommy's not here to help her wittle baby boy anymore." **_He said in a mocking voice.

They both glared at each other, growling like wild animals. Sparks were shooting from their eyes. It was short lived, however, when the two started to laugh.

"_Damnit, I can't stay mad at you."_ Naruto admitted while laughing still.

"_**Ditto. Your face is hilarious when you're mad."**_

The continued laughing for another minute and then it died down. The mood turned serious once more.

"_**What do you plan to do about Sasuke? I assume you're gonna attempt to bring him back to the Leaf again?"**_

"_That's the plan. I promised Sakura I'd bring him back. She may not love him anymore, but he's still our friend and comrade. That's enough for me."_

"_**Well then, I'll start recharging my chakra so you can fight him."**_

"_No." _Naruto said suddenly, taking Kurama off guard.

"_**What?"**_

"_I wan't to fight him with my own power. I appreciate your offer to help, but this one is personal."_

_**And what about your new eyes?"**_ Kurama asked curiously.

"I won't use them. Madara was a different circumstance. I was fighting to protect the world and everyone in it. Sasuke is someone I have to face with my own strength or not at all.

"…_**Alright. I'll respect your wish. But if I see he's about to kill you, I'm stepping in."**_

Naruto smiled and raised his fist. Kurama smiled as well and bumped fists with him.

"_Deal."_ Was all Naruto said.

"Naruto?..."

Naruto was taken from his thoughts at the sound of his name being called. He turned around and saw Sakura standing a few feet away from him. Kakashi was standing a little ways behind her, giving his two students some space. Sakura slowly walked towards Naruto. Tears threatening to fall from her emerald jewls. Naruto smiled softly at her as she approached him. She stopped a few inches short of him and looked up at him.

"Please don't cry beautiful." He said in sweet voice.

She held her tears back as much as she could. She buried her head into his chest and gripped his jacket tightly.

"I'm so glad you're safe." She said in a soft, but shaky voice.

Naruto wrapped his arms around her. He lifted one of his hands to her hair and stroked it gently. She couldn't hold back anymore. She started to sob quietly into his chest. His jacket started to feel wet. But he didn't care. He let her cry as much as she needed. Kakashi looked on with pride. His number one knuckleheaded student saved the entire world from a fate worse than death. He looked up at the sky.

"_It's finally over. Obito. Rin."_

Images of younger Obito and Rin filled the sky in his eyes. He wanted to cry himself, but he had to look strong in front of his team. Then he remembered something. Something that gave him hope.

"Sakura, I know this is sudden but it's important. Will you please look at me?" He asked her.

Sakura nodded in his chest and looked up at him. The tears had stopped flowing, but her cheeks were still wet from crying so much. Naruto grinned and wiped them dry. He then kissed her forehead. She blushed a little but didn't take her eyes off him.

"I'm going after Sasuke next." He said bluntly.

Her eyes widened and she gripped his jacket tighter. "Naruto, you're in no condition to fight him now! You need to rest and heal!"

"Hey, hey!" He said softly. "I plan to do just that. You don't think I'm stupid enough to go into a fight when I can barely stand do you?"

She didn't answer but he knew what she wanted to say.

"I was hoping you'd do a patch up for me. You know. Heal some bruises and cuts?"

Her expression hardened. "Naruto Uzumaki, You are not going anywhere until I've personally healed you completely." She said sternly while poking him with her index finger.

He grinned and laughed his usual energetic laugh. Sakura huffed. "What's so funny?"

"You sound just like a mother." He said giving her his famous grin.

Her face turned red and she clenched on of her hands into a fist. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Naruto opened his eyes only to see a fist connect with his face. He was skyrocketed into the air screaming, leaving a trail of smoke behind him. You could feel the entire alliance wince just from watching the ordeal. Naruto landed face first into the ground about twenty feet away from his previous spot. His nose was bleeding and his body was twitching in pain.

"One more comment like that and I'm breaking up with you, idiot!" She said breathing heavily.

"_**Smooth, kit. Smooth."**_

"_Shut it, you sunovabitch." _He said, almost inaudible.

Kakashi sweat dropped and turned to face what seems to be the audience. "That's one battle he'll never win…"

About five minutes later, Sakura was healing Naruto, who was still sprawled out in an awkward position on the ground.

"Sorry, Naruto. I should have considered that you were pretty beat up already." She apologized.

"It's alwight." He said through a bloody and bruised face.

"I didn't mean what I said you know. I won't break up with you."

"I'm gwad." He replied.

Sakura giggled at how funny his voice sounded like that. After about ten minutes of healing, he was back to normal. He still needed more, but Sakura was running low on chakra. He didn't want her to push herself to the point where she suffered of chakra exhaustion. He told her to rest and he'd have another medic heal him the rest of the way. She was reluctant at first cause she didn't want another girl looking after him now that they were together. But she had to let it go this time. She knew she was in no condition to continue Naruto stood up and offered his hand to help Sakura stand. She smiled and took it. He lifted her and she wobbled a bit from dizziness. He wrapped an arm around her to steady her. She blushed again.

"Naruto, not in front of the entire alliance." She looked away embarrassed.

"Says the one who kissed me in front of all of them." He said grinning.

"That was different! I thought you were…"

"But I'm not. And what's important is what you feel for me. The same way I feel about you. And we shouldn't be scared to show it or care who sees it."

"Y-…you're right." She said giving him the biggest smile she could manage.

"All right. Let's go join everyone." He said.

"Ok!"

Naruto put Sakura's arm around the back of his neck and held her up with his free arm. They walked towards the alliance, but Kakashi appeared in front of them.

"Hmm? What is it Kakashi-Sensei?" Nartuo asked

"I'll hold on to Sakura for now. In the meantime, I think everyone is waiting for a speech."

Naruto paused to take in the information. He suddenly started panicking.

"E-ehhhhh?! B-but I can't give a speech! I'm terrible with speeches! What if I choke?! What if I say something stupid?! What if I die from embarrassment?!"

"If you died of embarrassment, I'd say that what you just accomplished wouldn't be able to keep you from becoming a worldwide laughingstock." Kakashi joked.

Naruto slumped his head over and groaned.

"It's Ok Naruto. You'll do fine. Just think of it as another mission." Sakura advised.

He looked at her and smiled. "Oh Ok! That should be easy!"

Kakashi fell over from the reasoning he just gave. "_I don't even…words…"_

Kakashi got up and Naruto handed Sakura over to him. He turned to face the alliance, which seemed to be waiting for their hero to address them. He gulped and walked towards them so he could be heard by all. He stopped a short distance away and started searching his mind for what to say.

"_That should be easy." _ He said, mocking himself.

"_**Relax. You've dealt with tougher situations. It's only the entire shinobi world you're talking about here."**_

"_Why does that make me feel less reassured?"_

"_**Oh…sorry…still getting used to this motivational stuff."**_

"_Don't worry about it. I'll handle this one way or another. If I screw up, it's only in front of a couple hundred thousand people…why am I doing this again?"_

"_**Get out of here and talk already. They're waiting for you."**_Kurama chuckled.

Naruto obliged and stared at the force in front of him. He took a deep breath and focused.

"Uh…Hi everyone…"

Suddenly, those couple hundred thousand people erupted into a frenzy of cheers, causing Naruto to jump. Everyone was clapping and whistling and screaming out praise for their hero. The sound was deafening.

"Heh…way to go, blockhead." Kiba said to himself.

"Naruto…congratulations." Hinata whispered.

"Hmph. An excellent showing of one's ability to hold his own against a strong opponent." Shino added.

"_You're completely bummed he didn't want us to help him aren't you?"_ Kiba thought sweat dropping.

"Who would have guessed a lazy bum like him would be the one to save the world?" Shikamaru asked his teammates. He smiled and let out a rare laugh.

"Uhh…I think you've got him mixed up with you in the lazy department." Ino retorted. "Still, gotta hand it to him. He was amazing. Sakura's lucky." She giggled.

"Yeah! Great job Naruto!" Choji shouted while jumping up and down. He pulled out a bag of chips and started to munch on them furiously while making a scary face. "I'm dedicating this bag of chips to him!"

Shikamaru and Ino both stepped away from him looking scared.

"Superb job, Naruto! What a wonderful display of hard work and youth!" Lee yelled.

"You said it, Lee! Although, I'd expect nothing less from the student of my eternal rival Kakashi." Anime tears started to roll down his cheeks. He covered his face with his arms and started sobbing. "We must work extra hard to achieve the level of strength he's mastered, Lee!"

Lee started to cry along with his sensei. "Yes, Gai Sensei!"

Neji and TenTen face palmed at the sight of the two men weeping.

Neji turned and looked at Naruto. He didn't say anything. He only closed his eyes and smiled while crossing his arms.

"That guy is something else." Tenten said. "To think he came in dead last in his class. He just proves that anyone can become great as long as they have the heart and the will to fight for it."

Garra said nothing. He only smiled and clapped. Which was much even for him.

"Remind me never to get on his bad side." Kankuro laughed.

"If it had to be anyone, I'm glad it was him that saved us all. Just like he saved Garra." Temari added.

Kakashi and Sakura watched the scene with pride. Sakura clapped as hard as she could while cheering him on. Kakashi couldn't unfortunately. He had to hold on to Sakura. But he was praising him more than he ever praised anyone in his mind. Naruto literally didn't know what to say. The only time he ever received such cheers were after he saved the Leaf Village from Pein. He still wasn't used to it. But he smiled and waved at everyone, accepting their shouts of joy. When he waved at them, they all began to quiet down. It was time for him to deliver his speech.

"Umm…I'm not really good at this kind of thing. But I'll do my best." He took another deep breath and let it out slowly. "This war was unnecessary. It was all started by someone who hated the world we live in."

Kakashi flinched a little. Knowing who he was talking about.

Naruto continued. "But…He believed in a cause of bringing peace to this world. Although, he went about it in the wrong way. Because of it, many lives were lost. However, this should be a lesson to all of us. Not too long ago, we used to stand as separate nations. Some of which who had a grudge against one another. But today, we stand here as one, united alliance. An alliance that stood up against an almost impossible situation. But still managed to claim victory. In a sense, that man…Obito Uchiha, brought about something good."

Many of the shinobi began to murmur, questioning Naruto's logic. But let him continue.

"He proved to us all, that no matter what grudges we once held, or what tensions there were between us, that we could all come together and put aside our differences for the greater good."

The crowd now saw Naruto's point and agreed with him.

"He helped prove that there is a way to achieve peace. If we all work together to take hold of it. My master, Jirya of the Sannin, wanted to rid the world of all hate, and bring peace to it. Unfortunately, he was killed because of the hate that was bred within the heart of a man he once taught. I swore that I would find the answer to bringing peace to the world in his honor. And today, I've found it. But if it weren't for Obito, I don't know if I ever would have. The answer is all of you, from different nations, working as one. If we can take what we have created here, and continue on this path, as separate nations, but united as an alliance, this world could be a much better place to live in for everyone. When I stand here, I don't see all of you as people from a different place. I see you as my comrades. And I am honored to fight alongside all of you and fight to protect all of you. And thank you."

Naruto finished his speech and to the shock of everyone, he bowed in gratitude. Everyone was speechless. If anyone should be bowing, they felt it should be them.

"_**Heh. Great speech, wasn't so hard was it?"**_

"_My knees are shaking and I feel like I'm gonna throw up."_

Kurama roared with laughter. Of course, he knew Naruto was feeling that way. But he just wanted to hear him say it himself.

Naruto rose from his bow. Garra stepped forward from the crowed and addressed him.

"Naruto…there is no reason for you to bow to us. We are the ones forever in your debt. You owe us nothing for what you've done today."

Garra then proceeded to bow himself. Naruto was shocked to see his friend act in such a way. What shocked him even more was every single person in the alliance followed their commander in chief's lead. They all bowed to pay their respects to him. He looked over all the people in amazement. He turned back to see that Kakashi and Sakura were bowing as well. His feelings began to overwhelm him. For his entire life, he wanted only to be recognized and acknowledged by the people of his home. But today, he was being acknowledged by the entire world of shinobi. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped his head around and he saw and image of his mother and father standing behind him. His father gave him a thumbs-up, and his mother smiled lovingly at him. They attempted to say something to him, but no words could be heard. However, he didn't need to hear them to know what they said. "We're so proud of you, son." Naruto smiled and had to wipe away tears with his sleeve. When he removed his arm from his face, his parents were gone. Still. He didn't feel sad. He felt just the opposite. He was extremely happy to know how proud they were of him. He turned around to face everyone again, but came face to face with an image of the Third Hokage. He was wearing his usual Hokage attire and he smiled. He closed his eyes and nodded at him. He then attempted to speak as well. Naruto grinned at him at what he said. "Congratulations, Naruto. You're dream has finally come true." The Third Hokage seemed to be laughing heartedly as he began to vanish in front of Naruto. Naurto smiled again. He lowered his head and whispered to himself.

"Thank you…everyone."

When he lifted his hand back up, he saw Garra was in front of him with his hand extended. He looked at it, then at him. Garra was smiling. Naruto smiled in return and took his hand in his own. They shook and the cheers began again from all the shinobi. Naruto waved at all of them once more. Then he turned to Garra again and spoke.

"I have a request."

Garra looked confused. "What is it, Naruto?"

"I'm going after Sasuke soon. I was hoping you could make sure no one interferes with our fight."

Garra look surprised. "But Naruto, you're in no condition to attempt such a thing!" He protested.

"I know. I'm going to wait until I'm fully healed. But I was hoping when the time came, you would make sure that I could fight him one on one. I plan to bring him back to my village for real this time."

Garra was silent for a moment, but nodded. "You have my word that no one will interfere."

Naruto grinned as wide as he could. "Thanks!"

"Naruto?"

Naruto turned to see Kakashi and Sakura standing behind him.

"What's up? Something wrong?"

"Well…no, not exactly. But, I have a favor to ask."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

Xxx

Everything was dark. But he could feel a gentle breeze blow by him. He didn't understand. He was supposed to be dead.

"Obito?" He heard a voice say.

His eyes shot open. He stared at a bright blue sky with clouds lazily passing by. He shot up and looked around.

"It worked! You're alive!"

Obito looked over and saw Kakashi standing over him. "Kakashi?! But how?!"

Naruto cleared his throat. Obito looked in the direction he heard Naruto and saw him smiling as the King of Hell descended into the ground and out of sight.

"You…brought me back to life? But why? After all I've done…"

"You were brought back because Naruto taught us an important lesson."

Obito turned around to see Garra standing behind him. He stayed silent and listened to the explination.

Garra continued. "While you did unspeakable acts of evil and threatened this world, Naruto managed to see the good you had done, even if your intentions were the opposite. He told us that you had showed him the answer to peace. You caused the entire world of shinobi to come together and fight as one. Through this, we put aside our differences, and buried our grudges. We have become one, and as a result, have reached a balance and have obtained peace."

Obito couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked to Kakashi, who nodded and then to Naurto, who was grinning and rubbing his nose.

"So…this means that you won? The war is over…Madara is…?"

"Yes. Naruto defeated Madara all on his own. He caused Madara to see the error of his ways, and in the end, he accepted peace and let himself move on." Kakashi explained.

Obito stared at the ground unable to comprehend everything. "So then what of me? Why was I brought back?"

"I asked Naruto to bring you back." Kakashi admitted.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to try again. I wanted my best friend back. I wanted you to come back to the village with us."

"But everyone will hate me. I'll be out casted. Is that what you want for me?"

"No one will know you were the cause of all this." Garra finally spoke.

Obito looked confused. "How is that possible?"

"This entire time, you worked under the alias of Madara. No one but a handful of shinobi know your true identity. It has been decided that all of the people who were not here to witness this battle, such as the civilians and Feudal Lords, will be kept in the dark of your real identity and you will return to Konoha and resume your life as a shinobi. You will be provided with a new identity, as well as a back story for where you came from if suspicion is aroused. However, if you slip up, and return to your evil ways, we will not hesitate to kill you again." Garra finished explaining.

"So I've been awarded a second chance…"

"Do you accept these terms?" Garra asked, while extending his hand.

Obito stared at Garra's hand and then looked to Kakashi. He had hopeful look in his eye. He turned back to Garra again. A few seconds passed, which felt like hours, and Obito finally smiled.

"I accept." He answered as he took Garra's hand and shook it.

Kakashi smiled and began to laugh and Naruto jumped happily up and down. Garra smiled and Obito laughed with Kakashi. When everything calmed down, Kakashi turned serious.

"Obito. I have a question for you."

"Hmm? What is it."

"I can take it from here Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto spoke as he walked up to the two.

Kakashi nodded and backed away. Obito turned his attention to Naruto.

"Umm…Mr. Obito?"

"Obito is just fine, Naruto."

"Ok. Obito, I need to know. Do you happen to know where Sasuke is?"

Obito hadn't been expecting that question. "Sasuke? Where did this come from?" He asked.

"I plan to fight him one on one and bring him back to the village as well."

Obito looked at Naruto like he was crazy. Still, he had to admit there was a chance he could pull it off. After all, he had changed the heart of one of the most evil shinobi in the history of this world. Unfortunately, there was one problem.

"I'm sorry. But I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him since the beginning of the war."

Naruto looked saddened and frustrated. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

"However, I do have a way of finding him." Obito admitted.

Naruto's head shot up as if Teuchi had given him free ramen. Hope returning to his eyes. Obito focused on the ground and not even five seconds later, a white Zetsu began to emerge from the ground. Everyone jumped back in shock and took on a battle stance.

"Relax. He's not going to attack anyone. He does what I command." Obito reassured them.

"What is it you need?" The white Zetsu spoke,

"I need you to track down Sasuke Uchiha and then return to me with his location." Obito ordered.

"Of course. I shall return once I've found him." It said as it sunk into the ground once more.

Everyone relaxed and Obito smiled at Naruto. "Don't worry. He'll find him. He's good at tracking."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks a lot, Obito!"

Obito nodded. "You seem tired. You should rest more. I'll come to you when Zetsu has found him."

"Ok. Thanks again!" Naruto saluted as he vanished.

Xxx

Naruto was walking amongst the alliance. Everyone was sitting around catching a breather after a hard fought war. Some were laughing and enjoying the fact they were alive. Others were mourning the deaths of loved ones a comrades a like. When he walked by, people would congratulate him and thank him for everything he did. Some would offer for him to sit and join them, but he politely refused. He needed to find someone to heal him a little more before Zetsu returned with news of Sasuke. He knew Sakura was still depleted of chakra. He would have asked Ino, but since she's not as well trained as Sakura, she'd run out of chakra faster. Plus he didn't want Sakura thinking he was purposefully looking for other girls to heal him. Especially not her best friend and rival. He ran into Sakura earlier. She was resting up and restoring her chakra and said she'd join him later when she could walk again. He then spotted an odd sight. A bunch of medical ninja and their staff were crowded around one specific area. He decided to see what was up. When he got closer, he noticed that they were all attending to the inured kage. Tsunade included. He approached her and grinned.

"Hey granny! You're looking well." He complimented.

Tsunade turned her attention to him and smiled wide. "Naruto! Good to see you walking around after taking such a beating!"

"I could say the same for you too."

"Well I wouldn't call this walking. But I've been worse."

"Naruto, I gotta admit, you were pretty amazing out there. I should have let you take the front lines a long time ago. Maybe you might have even prevented Madara's revival." The Raikage praised.

"Yes. Not bad for a brat your age. You handled yourself like a true ninja." The Tsuchikage added.

"If it weren't for your well time heroics, we might not be here right now. Way to go, champ." The Mizukage said, winking at him. Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously at the wink.

"Naruto, I've known you for a long time. And each time I see you fight, you seem to be even stronger. Today, you proved to everyone what you're capable of and are indeed worthy of inheriting the title you've always dreamed of having. Hokage." Garra said in his usual monotone voice.

Naruto seemed confused. "Wait…what are you saying?" Naruto asked him.

"He's saying, Naruto, that once we return to the village, and get the rebuilding finished, I will be resigning as Hokage, and request that the title be passed to you. Of course there will be a vote of who will be the next Hokage. But I have no doubt that you'll win in a landslide." Tsunade answered for Garra.

Naruto was stunned. He couldn't believe what she had just said. It's like he was in a dream and thought he would wake up and none of this would have happened. But it was real. After suffering for so many years from the pain of being alone and wanting to be accepted, he now had achieved both his dreams. If what Tsunade said was true, he'd be the Hokage in no time at all. He lowered his head and smiled. He began shaking.

Tsunade noticed this. "Naruto? Are you OK?" She asked concerned.

He didn't answer. He continued shaking as his smile grew wider. Suddenly, he jumped in the air.

"I can't believe it! I'm actually gonna be Hokage!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

He continued jumping up and down and shouting things along the same line, which caused him to draw a lot of attention from the other shinobi. A lot of them, mostly Leaf ninja started cheering and clapping and congratulated him. The Kage were laughing, including Garra, at his antics. Word reached Sakura, Kakashi, and the rest of his friends. They all talked amongst themselves, saying that they were all gonna celebrate the occasion when they returned home. Sakura and Kakashi were the most excited to hear. Although, Kakashi didn't show it, he was screaming like a mad man in his head bragging that his student was gonna be the next Hokage.

"_Naruto…you did it. I'm so happy for you." _Sakura thought.

'_**Heh…the brat actually did it. Good for him.'**_ Kurama said, but so Naruto couldn't hear.

Naruto had finally calmed down. He then remembered what he was originally doing.

"Hey granny, I was wondering. If you're able, do you think you could heal me up the rest of the way? Obito has one of his White Zetsu out looking for Sasuke. I plan to fight him one on one and finally bring him back."

"WHAT?! ARE YOU INSANE?! THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE! YOU CAN'T BRING HIM BACK TO YOUR VILLAGE! HE CUT OFF MY RIGHT ARM FOR FUCK SAKE!" The Raikage bellowed.

"CALM YOURSELF, RAIKAGE!" Tsunade shouted back.

The Raikage shut up immediately, wanting to hear Tsunade's explanation. She turned to Naruto.

"Naruto, you do realize what you're trying to accomplish, right?" He nodded and she continued. "Very well. I accept your proposal. If you manage to bring back Sasuke alive, make sure he is unable to put up any form of resistance. Once we've established that he can't threaten anyone anymore, we will seal away his chakra and his Sharingan. We will then attempt to rehabilitate him until he resigns to the fact that there is no way to carry out any harmful acts to the village and its people, and hopefully, he'll return to the way he used to be. However…" She paused.

Naruto gulped at that last part.

"If it is not possible for you to do this, you are to take him out. Permanently. Are you sure you are up for the task?"

Naruto hesitated. He knew there was every possibility that he might have to kill him. In the vision he shared with him, he realized that they would both die if they fought. But he wasn't one to give up hope. If there was a way to bring Sasuke back without them dying, then he would find it. Still, he wasn't ready to die without fulfilling his dream of being Hokage. And if he couldn't manage to bring Sasuke back while risking that dream, then even he would take drastic measures.

"Yes. I understand and I am up for the task."

"Very well. Unfortunately, I'm still unable to heal you due to my lack of chakra. However..." she paused. "Shizune!" she called for her aid.

Shizune heard the call from Tsunade and told another medical ninja to help with healing an injured patient. She immediately rushed over.

"Yes milady?"

"I need you to heal Naruto until he is at full strength. This takes priority over everything else. Am I clear?" She asked her aid sternly.

"Y-yes! Of course! I'll get to work right away!" She turned to Naruto. "Come with me please, Naruto."

"Sure thing, Shizune!" He turned and bowed. "Thank you all for your kind words. And thank you, granny. I'll do my best to bring him back."

Tsunade nodded and Naruto walked off. The other Kage watched as he walked away.

"Do you think he can do it?" The Raikage asked.

"I know he can. He just saved the world form one of the strongest ninja in history. I'm sure he can handle his best friend." Tsunade replied with confidence.

Xxx

Shizune had taken Naruto to where there were minimal people around so she could focus without much distraction. She had begun healing him right away.

"Thanks for helping me out, Shizune. Sorry if this is any trouble for you. I know there are still a lot of injured people that need more help than me." Naruto apologized.

"It's no trouble, Natuto. You're pretty well healed as it is. You just need a little bit more before you're ready to fight. So don't worry about a thing." She reassured him.

"Ok! Thanks!"

She giggled. "You're welcome. And congratulations! I heard you shouting earlier about becoming the next Hokage!"

"Thanks! I can't believe it's finally happening. I've dreamed of this for so long. It all seems so unreal."

"Will you be convinced when you're finally wearing the Hokage robe?"

He laughed. "Maybe."

As they continued to converse, Naruto felt much stronger and felt like he was ready to take Sasuke on. As if on cue, Obito appeared in front of the two.

"Naruto, we've found him."

Naruto's expression hardened. "Where?"

"He's nine miles to the west. Traveling on foot. He's being accompanied by two of his teammates from Taka, Suigetsu and Jugo and one more…" he paused.

Naruto was worried at why he was silent. "Who else is with him?" He asked curiously.

"…Orochimaru."

Naruto was baffled. "That can't be! Sasuke killed him! How can HE be with him!" Naruto shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Naruto, please calm down! I'm still not finished healing you!" Shizune pleaded.

Naruto flinched and sat back down. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"It's fine." She replied, continuing where she left off.

Obito cleared his throat. "As I was saying, yes. Orochimaru is with them. How it's possible, I don't know. But you don't have to worry about that. I will make sure that you and Sasuke fight alone."

Naruto nodded. "I trust you. And I have one favor to ask."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Xxx

Sakura and Kakashi were chatting idly while she recovered from losing so much chakra. They couldn't wait to congratulate Naruto on becoming the next Hokage, even if it was still unofficial. Just then, he appeared next to them, startling the two.

"Naruto! Where did you come from?!" Sakura asked.

"I was being healed by Shizune. I'm going after Sasuke. Obito knows where he is."

"Really?! Where?!" She asked excitedly.

"He's nine miles west of here…Orochimaru is with him…"

Kakashi's eye widened. "But how?! Didn't Sasuke kill him?!"

"I thought so too. But apparently we were wrong. It's Ok though. Obito will make sure that he doesn't interfere."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "So can we come with you? We won't fight, we just wanna be there to support you." She asked.

"Sorry Sakura, but I don't want to risk yours or Kakashi-Sensei's safety. If he were to capture either of you and use you as a hostage, it would be hard to fight him. This is why I have to do this alone." He said, in an apologetic tone.

Sakrura looked sad. Although, she knew he had a point. She was still recovering. Making her an easy target to use against Naruto. "Ok. I understand." She said perking up a little.

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto gave them both a thumbs-up. "I'm positive! Don't worry, I'll bring him back for sure this time!"

They smiled and nodded. Obito then came swirling into view. "Naruto, we have to leave now if we want to catch them."

"Ok. Just give me one more minute."

Obito obliged and sat down on a nearby rock.

Naruto turned back to his team. "I gotta go now. But I'll be back with Sasuke. You can count on it!"

Sakura wrapped him in a hug. "Be safe." She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear. "I love you."

"Naruto got goosebumps out of delight at hearing those words. He leaned in and whispered as well. "I love you too."

The broke from the hug and Naruto stood up. He turned to Kakashi. "Well, it looks like you'll have your full team back soon!" He said grinning.

"I don't know whether to be happy, or afraid." He said sarcastically.

They laughed for a few seconds. When the laughing died down, Kakashi raised his arm to Naruto. "We'll be waiting for you."

Naruto smirked and grasped Kakashi's hand with his. "Got it. Be prepared to treat us to some dinner when we're a full team again."

"For once, I'll be looking forward to that."

They said goodbye once more and Naruto walked over to Obito. "I'm ready."

"Ok. Let's go."

Naruto turned around once more and waved to his team. He gave them one last grin as he began to swirl into Obito's world.

Xxx

Saskue and his three companions were walking through a barren field. They were headed for the battle field, but at the rate they were going, it would be some time before they reached it. Little did they know, the battle had already ended.

"Hey Sasuke, shouldn't we pick up the pace a little?" Suigetsu asked.

Sasuke started walking slightly faster.

"Not what I meant, smartass!" Suigestu said, pissed off.

"We're in no hurry to join the fight. We want them to be weakened when we arrive." Sasuke finally responded.

Orochimaru and Jugo walked silently behind them. They had no personal preference to fight in the war on either side, but they followed willingly only to see what Sasuke would do. Sasuke stopped walking and spoke.

"Come out." He said.

Obito revealed himself to the group. "How did you know?"

"I'm no stranger to genjutsu. I caught on as soon as you placed it. However, you did not attack and I wanted to see what your motive was for following us." Sasuke explained.

"Clever as always I see. Especially when I made sure to change nothing around you."

"Hmph. I see you've finally decided to show your face. Why are you here, Madara?" He asked coldly.

"That isn't Madara, Sasuke." Orochimaru butted in.

Sasuke turned his head. "What do you mean?"

"The battlefield we were headed to had the real Madara there fighting the shinobi alliance. This man has been deceiving you."

Sasuke faced the man he believed to be Madara once more. "Is this true?"

Obito only nodded.

"What purpose would you have for taking his name?" He asked.

"That's not important anymore. The reason I've come is because I'm here to take you somewhere."

"Not interested."

Everyone else was silent. Although, they were prepared to fight if necessary.

"I'm afraid I'm not giving you a choice."

"Cut the crap, whoever the hell you are! He said he's not interested!" Suigetsu said as he charged.

He turned into water and attempted to grab Obito, but he slipped right through him and splashed into the ground.

"Still using the same tricks huh?" Sasuke questioned.

"I have no desire to fight. There's someone else who wants to fight you specifically."

Jugo flashed behind him and attempted to punch him, but had similar results as Suigetsu. Orochimaru just stood by watching.

"Is that so? Well then tell THEM I'm not interested."

"Like I said. I'm not giving you a choice."

Obito flashed in front of him and started sucking Sasuke into his world. He was taken off guard and didn't have time to react. The deed was done and Obito faced the others.

"Sorry. I have nothing against any of you. I only came for him."

"Give him back you bastard!" Suigetsu shouted.

Jugo jumped into the air and they both made to attack. But just as they were about to reach him, Obito disappeared to where he had transported Sasuke and their attacks connected with the ground.

"Shit! He got away! Hey, Orochimaru! Why didn't you do anything to help?!" Sugietsu yelled as he stomped towards him.

"It isn't our place to interfere with this fight. It was inevitable. Which means the war is already over and our purpose is done." He responded.

"What are you saying?" Jugo asked.

Orochimaru only chuckled and looked to the sky. "This fight is Sasuke's most important one ever. We have no right to stop it.

Xxx

Before he knew it, Sasuke had been transported to an all too familiar place. He looked around, unimpressed with his kidnapping. If it was meant to intimidate him, it hadn't worked. He noticed that they were standing in the middle of a large lake. Then something caught his eye. Standing in between two giant statues in front of a waterfall, stood his former best friend and rival, arms crossed and glaring intently at him. Sasuke was beginning to comprehend why he was brought here. He turned to Obito.

"It seems you've had a change of heart."

Obito ignored his comment. "I will be overseeing this fight, but not here. However, if I see that things are getting out of hand, I will intervene."

"Hmph. Do as you please. This won't take long." Sasuke replied smugly.

Obito smirked. "I wouldn't count on it." He said as he disappeared once more.

Sasuke brushed off his doubt as merely underestimating him. He faced Naruto who hadn't moved from where he was standing. They were quite the distance apart, so Sasuke started walking towards him. The raging waterfall was the only sound piercing through their silence. Sasuke stopped walking as he was closer now to Naruto, although still a distance apart.

"You never give up do you?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto didn't answer right away. "When it comes to you, no." He finally said.

"I take it, since you're here and the fake Madara brought me to you, that the war is over?"

Naruto nodded. "I defeated the real Madara and now the world is finally at peace. There's only one thing I have left to do."

"And that's bring me back to the village, right?"

"That, or kill you if there's no other way."

Sasuke chuckled. "You don't have the guts."

"Try me." Naruto said as his voice deepened.

Sasuke was surprised. This wasn't like Naruto at all. Something's changed with him and he seemed serious when he threatened him.

"What's gotten into you? This isn't the same idiot I saw not so long ago."

"War changes a man, Sasuke. I always knew there was a possibility I'd have to kill you if I couldn't bring you back. Although, I never wanted to admit it. But it's the reality of the situation. I don't plan on having to do that though. Because this time, I'm bringing you back for sure!"

"Hmph. You can bring me back if you want. But it'll only mean the destruction of the village. I still intend to destroy it."

"Not gonna happen." Naruto shot back as he unfolded his arms.

Naruto got into a battle stance and waited for Sasuke. Sasuke was unfamiliar with Naruto's stance. He had never seen him take it before. He had to be cautious for any surprises he might have for him. Sasuke got into his own stance without taking his eyes off him. Not even a second later, Naruto ran towards him at blinding speeds. Sasuke was almost taken off guard, but kept his composure and waited for his advance. Naruto was closing in fast and already had his fist back to punch. Sasuke didn't move until that last second when he moved his head to the side to avoid the punch. He smirked at his ability to dodge it, but he was then met with a sharp pain in his cheek. He was sent spiraling backwards and landed with a loud splash. Naruto landed on his feet and waited for Sasuke to get up.

"How…did you do that?" Sasuke asked as he slowly stood.

Naruto was silent and only stared at him. It was then that Sasuke noticed that Naruto had the eyes of a toad. He knew exactly what that meant.

"So, even a loser like you can become a sage? He asked in an unimpressed voice.

"So you know about sage mode?" Naruto asked, ignoring the question.

"Itachi and I fought Kabuto who also had the power of a sage. Although his eyes resembled a snake's, I assumed it was the same thing with the eyes of a toad.

"Very perceptive. But even if you know about it, that doesn't mean it's gonna be any easier to keep up with me!" Naruto shouted as he charged Sasuke once again.

"_Don't get too cocky." _ He thought as he activated his Sharingan.

Sasuke began reading Naruto's movements. He could tell the pattern he was going to take to attack. Although, he was having a hard time keeping up by how fast Naruto was going. He kept his cool and waited once more. When he finally saw Naruto about to make his move, Sasuke flew through his hand signs. He turned around and began his jutsu.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke blew a giant fireball from his mouth just as Naruto appeared behind him. Naruto cursed as he jumped to the side to avoid the attack.

"_Gotta be careful. He can still read my moves…time to change tactics." _

Naruto jumped in the air once he landed from dodging the fireball. He formed his signature hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Two clones appeared and all three Naruto's landed simultaneously. Each dashed in a different direction as they hit the water, attempting to confuse Sasuke. Naruto was fast before, so adding two more made it difficult for Sasuke to keep up. He couldn't tell which one would strike first and where. He got his answer as one clone flanked him from the right and delivered a punch to his stomach. Sasuke coughed up some spit at the force of the blow and the clone kept ramming him with punches. Finally, it finished with an uppercut to his jaw, sending him skyward. Sasuke regained his balance in the air and prepared another jutsu. Although, he was cut short from the other clone landing a haymaker to his back, sending him flipping down towards the water at an alarming rate. Sasuke cursed as he plummeted and couldn't regain his balance this time. He though he was going to hit the water, until the real Naruto appeared under him and landed a Rasengan directly to his chest. Naruto thought he had a direct hit, but to his disappointment, Sasuke turned into a log.

"Behind you!" One of his clones yelled.

Naruto spun around to see Sasuke reaching for him with his Chidori. He was too close to jump or dodge out of the way. Then Naruto came up with an idea. He stopped pumping chakra into his feet and he sank faster than a rock into the lake as Sasuke narrowly missed his target.

"Tch. Thought I had him." Sasuke mumbled.

Naruto swam away from where Sasuke was so he wouldn't surface in his attack radius. Once he knew he was safe, he reemerged from the lake and panted, trying to catch his breath. Sasuke turned slowly to face him once more while Naruto's clones joined the original to cover him.

"That was smart thinking. In fact, it was your only option. Maybe you have gotten a little better." He taunted.

"Cut the crap Sasuke! I didn't come here to talk! I already know talking doesn't work with you. Get serious already!" Naruto snapped.

Sasuke paused before responding. "…Get serious?...Are you sure that's what you want?"

Naruto just stared him down and Sasuke let out a deep sigh.

"All right, I'll get serious." He said as he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. "Just remember that you asked for this."

Naruto didn't flinch as he prepared for the next round of their battle. Sasuke started weaving hand signs that were all too familiar to Naruto.

"Chidori." Sasuke said, as lightning surrounded his hand.

Sasuke began his charge at a speed he hadn't shown until now. It took Naruto slightly off guard and he and his clones scrambled attempting to counter by surrounding him. Sasuke smirked, expecting Naruto to do this and then formed his Chidori into a spear-like shape. The real Naruto noticed the change and jumped back as Sasuke swung the spear in a circular motion. The clones weren't so lucky and were caught in the attack and vanished instantly. Sasuke wasn't done yet though. Without hesitating, he shot multiple Chidori senbon at Naruto. Naruto stayed calm and weaved through all the senbon. By the time he was finished avoiding those, he had to dodge the blade of Sasuke's multiple sword slashes.

"_I had to open my big mouth!" _Naruto cursed himself in his mind while still avoiding Sasuke's sword.

"_**Not so easy now, is it?"**_

"_Not helping_!"

Naruto had had enough and slipped his hand into his weapons pouch. He pulled out a kunai and blocked Sasuke's next attack. They struggled to gain ground against the other, but they were evenly matched. They stared into the other's eyes as they battled for dominance. One pair was like a black hole, no emotion, and no remorse, while the other pair was suffering and in pain. Finally, they both jumped back, ending their clash in a stalemate. Each proving their strength was superior to the one another. Naruto didn't hesitate and threw his Kunai at Sasuke. He easily evaded it by tilting his head to the side, letting it fly by. Sasuke sheathed his sword and started making hand signs for his next attack.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Sasuke blew several fireballs at Naruto. He began running in the opposite direction and made a series of confusing maneuvers to throw Sasuke off his aim. The fireballs would tail him, but at the last second before impact, Naruto would avoid them. Sasuke cursed his bad aim and ran after him. Noticing the fireballs had stopped chasing him, Naruto turned around and ran towards Sasuke. As soon as they reached each other, they clashed in a flurry of punches and kicks. Sasuke aimed a punch at Naruto's head, but Naruto ducked. He tried to counter with a leg sweep, but Sasuke jumped slightly and dodged. Naruto tried to take advantage of Sasuke's immobility and shot an upper cut towards his chin. Sasuke leaned back and did a back flip in midair and avoided the hit once more. He landed and attempted a round house kick to Naruto's ribs. Naruto brought an arm up and blocked the blow. A small shockwave was emitted from the force of the clash. Naruto could feel his arm shaking from the force of the blow, but brushed it off. He forced Sasuke's leg away, throwing him off balance, until he used the momentum to swing around and attempt another kick. Naruto ducked this time and jumped straight up. He did a couple of front flips to gain momentum and extended his leg for a drop kick. Sasuke brought his arms up in an X shape and blocked the attack. The force of it caused a giant splash of water to rise around them and forced Sasuke to kneel slightly. He rose up and pushed Naruto back with all his strength. His arms were hurting after blocking the kick. He attributed it to the extra boost in strength Naruto must get while in Sage Mode. They were tingling a little as well, but he endured.

"_I've gotta be careful not to get hit by one of his attacks. Even if I block it, I still take damage." _Sasuke told himself.

They were both breathing heavily but Naruto was smiling. He knew this battle would be tough, but Sasuke was keeping up with him even in Sage Mode. He hadn't expected him to do this well.

"So…you ready…to give up yet?" Naruto asked panting.

"Not…likely." He replied while panting, himself. "Anyway, I thought…we were done talking."

"Eh…I was…getting bored with the silence." Naruto stated bluntly.

"If you're so bored…then let me put you out of your misery."

Sasuke started making hand signs that Naruto recognized immediately. Lighting started to form in Sasuke's hand as he finished making the signs. He looked at Naruto with a look of murder in his eyes. The ominous glow from the Chidori made the stare even more petrifying. It was as if Naruto was staring into the eyes of Orochimaru, only these eyes seemed much colder. Any normal ninja would have been frozen in fear, but Naruto is anything but normal. He took a defensive stance and waited on Sasuke's next move. Sasuke began his assault by charging at Naruto, but just as he was about to reach him, he jumped into the air. This took Naruto off guard slightly, but he kept his composure. As he looked up at Sasuke, he noticed he had his Chidori arm facing the water below and not directed at him. Naruto realized his intention just as he shot a stream of Chidori towards the water. Naruto jumped just in time as the lake below them began to electrify with the blue lightning, spreading over every inch of water. Naruto wiped his brow in relief for being able to avoid a jolting demise; but his relief was short lived as Sasuke prepared to strike him with another Chidori stream now that he was in the air. Naruto quickly made a clone and had it propel him upwards. The stream hit the clone and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke scoffed in disappointment for missing his real target and came back down to the lake's surface now that the lightning had stopped flowing through it. He looked up at Naruto who was still in the air.

"You coming down?" He asked sarcastically.

"I'm not in THAT much of a hurry." Naruto responded.

Sasuke smirked and gave a "hmph" in response. He waited for his rival and former best friend to join him.

"_This isn't good. I'm running out of Sage chakra. And I only have two clones waiting behind that waterfall to replenish it if it comes to that. _

*flashback*

"_How do you plan to replenish your Sage chakra if you run out?" _Obito asked_._

"_I'm going to have two clones gather as much as they can while I fight Sasuke. That way, if I run out, I can disperse them to regain the chakra they stored." _Naruto explained.

"_That's a nice plan and all, but where are you going to hide them? There aren't that many hiding spots around here. And I doubt Sasuke will leave them alone if he spots them_."

"_Don't worry about that. I've got that covered."_

Naruto walked over to the giant waterfall in between the statues of the First Hokage and Madara. He made two shadow clones and hand them form a bigger than average Rasengan. He then placed his right hand on the flowing water.

"_HA_!" He shouted.

The water split in two different directions, each flowing to the right and left of Naruto as he pumped his wind chakra through the water. The exact same thing Kakashi had taught him when he was learning to control his chakra nature. Both clones then jumped at the rock wall behind the falls.

"_Giant Rasengan_!" Both clones shouted in unison.

The Rasengans collided with the wall and created two large holes big enough for one person each to sit in. The clones jumped into the holes.

"_Gather as much Sage chakra as you can and don't come out until I give the signal. Got it_?" Naruto asked them.

Both clones saluted the original, "_Yes sir_!" The both said.

Naruto nodded to them and ceased the flow of chakra and the water returned to its original flow. He turned to face Obito who was impressed with his improvisation.

"_Well then…I think it's safe to say he won't expect that._" Obito joked.

"_Let's hope not. Otherwise I'm screwed." _Naruto joked back_. "I'm ready now. You can go get him."_

Obito nodded and disappeared as he usually does. Naruto then sat down and assumed the posture he takes to gather his Sage chakra.

*End flashback*

"_I hope I can rap this up before I need to use them_."

Naruto finally dropped down to the surface of the lake again. "Miss me?"

"Hardly. While this has been really fun and all, I think it's time I put an end to you."

Sasuke became surrounded by purple chakra and Naruto knew what was coming. He saw the same thing when he fought Madara.

"Susano'o…" Naruto whispered.

Sasuke stood before Naruto with his full Susano'o surrounding him. It drew its arrow and waited for Sasuke's order to fire. Sasuke just stared at him with his usual emotionless expression. Telling Naruto that not even he is exempt from his Susano'o wrath. Naruto wasn't exactly sure how to counter this considering he was only able to defeat Madara's Susano'o with the help of Kurama; but that didn't mean he was going to give up.

"_Hmm…I could try hitting it with a few Rasen-Shuriken. That might put a hole or two in it."_ Naruto thought to himself.

"_**You know, I could help you out just this once here. It's only fair. He has help." **_Kurama offered.

Naruto closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in his inner world. Kurama was in his meditating position, gathering any extra chakra he can in case of an emergency.

Naruto shook his head. "_Thanks, but I still have to fight him alone. I've relied on you a lot recently. I want to be able to do this on my own."_

"_**OK. But remember, if you're about to get yourself killed, I won't give you a choice in the matter. I will step in." **_

Naruto smiled. He was touched at how concerned Kurama was for him. It wasn't even that long ago that he was trying to fight for control of his chakra. Now they were like best friends. Naruto stuck out his fist.

"_I wouldn't have it any other way."_ He said.

Kurama smirked and they fist bumped. Naruto opened his eyes and was staring down Sasuke once more. He formed his famous hand sign and spoke his signature line.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Two sage clones appeared on either side of him ready to fight. They each helped the original form a Rasengan in each hand.

"Don't you ever get tired of using the same moves?" Sasuke asked.

"If it works, then there's no point changing it." Naruto replied.

Naruto raised both his arms and then swiftly slammed both Rasengan on the water. The effect was similar to the way he created a red smokescreen during his fight with Pein; although this time, he caused a giant wall of water to rise up. Sasuke stood ready with his Susano'o but was unimpressed with Naruto's water show. Two Narutos suddenly burst forth from the water wall and began charging at Sasuke and he smirked.

"Is that the best you can do, Naruto!?" He yelled.

Sasuke turned around to spot Naruto in the air with his Rasen-Shuriken ready to strike. Naruto was taken off guard and was too stunned from being found out to dodge an arrow that pierced his chest. He stared wide eyed at the wound and then looked to Sasuke.

"Did you really think I would fall for an obvious trick like that?" Sasuke taunted.

Naruto smirked. "No. In fact, I was counting on you not to fall for it."

"What!?"

The stabbed threw the wind styled shuriken and poofed away. Sasuke jumped back to try and avoid the attack.

"Gotcha!"

Sasuke looked behind him to see another Naruto with the same attack whirling in his hand reaching for him. He had no time to dodge and the attack connected. Sasuke could feel the intense pressure the attack had behind it. It felt like he was being crushed at first, even with his Susano'o, and then the Rasengan burst into a giant ball of wind chakra. Sasuke was receiving some minor cuts thanks to Susano'o's protection, but his protector wasn't fairing so well. It was receiving many severe cuts and gashes from the blades of wind and was ripping its armor apart. Sasuke was struggling but managed to jump away from the onslaught of blades. He was panting hard and bleeding in a few places with minor cuts. He looked at his Susano'o and saw that the damage was worse than he thought. Its armor was cut in many different places, revealing the muscles underneath and in some places even the bones. Sasuke's anger rose to a new level. He was being thrown around like he was Naruto's personal rag doll. The last time they fought he was barely able to keep up with him. Even though he had just fought Danzo and was really weak. Now it's like he was on a completely different level than him. He stared Naruto down with intense hate in his eyes but was shocked to notice something different about him. Naruto's eyes returned to their normal blue state and he was panting just as hard as Sasuke. Sasuke grinned evilly and began to laugh.

"Hahahaha! Looks like you're all out of Sage chakra! Now you won't stand a chance! It's time for you to pay for every hit you've landed on me!"

"It's not me who doesn't stand a chance, Sasuke. You've let you rage and hatred consume you and it's made you sloppy. You're not the same calm and collect ninja you were before. If you were, I'd be having a much harder time beating you."

What Sasuke said next surprised Naruto. "Hmm…is that how you really feel?"

Sasuke was in front of Naruto within a second with his hand on his shoulder and his Susano'o right behind him. Naruto was too startled to react. All he could do was stare straight ahead in shock.

Sasuke leaned in and whispered in his ear, "You should keep those kinds of comments to yourself. They make you sound cocky."

"Giant Rasengan!"

Sasuke looked to his left to see one of Naruto's Sage clones attempting to hit him with an oversized rasengan. He swung his arm to the side, causing his Susano'o to do the same. Its shield connected with the attack and broke through it knocking the clone away and making it disappear.

"It was very rude of him to try and interrupt our conversation." Sasuke said cooley. "I was going to go easy on you, Naruto. But now that you think you're superior, I have to bring you back down to Earth."

"_**Damnit! This is bad! Naruto, use my power!" **_Kurama insisted.

"_No! I can still win! Even if Sasuke was going easy on me, I've been doing the same to him!"_

"_**What!? All this time you've only been using half your strength!? But why!?"**_

"_Because no matter how much I didn't want to admit it, I couldn't bring myself to fight him with everything I had…If I did…I could kill him by accident. I want to save him no matter what. But now that he's decided to fight with his full strength, I have no choice but to do the same! I promised Granny that if it was impossible to bring him back…I would kill him. I know I still have a chance to win without having to resort to that. So I'll do whatever it takes to bring him home. Even if I have to beat him within an inch of his life."_

"…_**you're hopeless. But I'll support your decision. Go get him."**_

"_Thanks."_

Sasuke jumped back and his Susano'o shot an arrow the second he left the water. Naruto moved to the side at the last second, avoiding it. He looked to the waterfall and made a gesture with his hand. He immediately got a reaction as one of his clones jumped out from behind the falls. Naruto dispersed it a second afterwards and gained the Sage chakra it had been storing. He looked to Sasuke with a new resolve in his eyes. A look that said he was done holding back on his account.

"Clever. Hiding one of your clones behind the falls to gather chakra for you."

Naruto didn't respond. Instead, he vanished from where he was standing. Sasuke was taken aback.

"He's faster than before!"

Sasuke looked around using his eyes to their fullest to find any trace of him. But all he could catch were small glimpses of him hopping from one spot to another. After a few seconds though, he began to notice a pattern in his movements.

"There!" He shouted.

He had Susano'o fire a black arrow at the spot where he predicted Naruto would be next. He guessed right. Naruto barely avoided a full on collision with the arrow had he not stopped at that exact second. The arrow flew right by him and hit the wall, causing it to catch fire with black flames.

"_So much for my speed tactics. If he can keep up with me like that, I better hold off. I was lucky that time."_

Sasuke didn't let up though. Susano'o threw a punch towards Naruto as he was lost in thought. He tried to jump out of the way but was grazed by the blow and was sent spiraling into the wall. Naruto winced in pain but was relatively unaffected due to his Sage chakra increasing his defense and pain tolerability. He pryed himself from the wall and landed on one knee.

"I've prolonged this long enough." Naruto said.

His remaining clone came to his aid and helped him up. He nodded to his clone signaling his thanks and they both took battle stances. Sasuke had Susano'o shoot more arrows at them. Each of them dodged and weaved their ways closer to Sasuke. Susano'o brought one of its fists up as soon as they got in range and slammed it down as hard and fast as it could. Both Narutos jumped to the side and avoided it. Then the clone made a sprint for Sasuke. It jumped and aimed a punch for him. Sasuke raised his arm to block and Susano'o's ribs sprouted to protect him. The punch connected and slightly cracked the ribs, but not enough to break through. The clone smirked as it accomplished its goal. It grabbed the ribs and began to pull them apart with all its strength. Sasuke realized what it was trying to do and drew his sword. He thrust it toward the clone but had it blocked away by the real Naruto. Sasuke cursed under his breath. The clone managed to pull the ribs apart, revealing a small entrance into Susano'o where the real Naruto aimed a punch at Sasuke and connected with his face. He was sent flying from Susano'o's protection and skid across the water. Susano'o disappeared shortly after.

"Got him!" Both Narutos shouted excitedly. "Now that Susano'o is gone, we can focus on Sasuke." The real one stated.

"Right!" The clone agreed.

Sasuke got to his feet looking none the worse for wear. He seemed relaxed and unfazed by the loss of his strongest defense and he charged forward without hesitation.

"Amaterasu." He said.

Black flames started to appear around the two, encircling them in a ring.

"Crap!" Both sages said at the same time.

They both jumped up to avoid being swallowed by the fire.

"Perfect." Sasuke mumbled.

He formed a Chidori in his right hand and extended it. It shot out towards one of the Narutos and pierced them in the chest. It poofed away instantly.

"Tch…why am I not surprised?" Sasuke asked himself.

The real Naruto was taken off guard and Sasuke took advantage of that by kicking him in the stomach and sending him speeding in the other direction. Naruto flipped in the air and recovered by landing on his feet only to be swept off them by a sweep kick from Sasuke who had appeared behind him. Sasuke kneed Naruto in the back tossing him upwards and causing Naruto to cough up spit. As Naruto soared up into the air, Sasuke jumped up and landed a haymaker on Nauto's stomach and sent him plummeting into the water. A small hole in the water indicated where Naruto had been submerged and closed up shortly after. Sasuke landed and stared at the spot he sent Naruto diving through.

"I know that's not all you're capable of, Naruto. Unless you're as weak as I thought you were."

Sasuke could see something rising from under the water. It surfaced and revealed Naruto floating on his stomach unconscious. Sasuke stared at the body and filled his hand with electricity. He brought his hand up and aimed it behind his back. He shot about five Chidori Senbon behind him and as if on cue, Naruto emerged from the water with a kunai. He didn't expect the sendbon and was only able to block three of them with his kunai and had one strike him in the leg and shoulder causing those two spots to become bloodstained.

"Argh! Damnit!" Naruto cursed. "_Focus… I have to calm down."_

Naruto landed and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. He let his other senses take over. He could feel the vibrations in the water shift. They started softly but became rougher and rougher with each passing second. An image of feet running across the water popped into his head. Then they suddenly stopped. He listened closely to his surroundings. He heard a faint chirping from above him and he waited for it to get louder. An image of a hand surrounded by lightning was the next thing he saw. When he could hear the lightning as if it were right next to him, he snapped his eyes open and jumped back, avoiding a Chidori from Sasuke. He planted his foot and kicked the now surprised Sasuke who was unable to regain his balance. He landed the kick in his side and sent him darting towards where his clone had surfaced as a distraction. The clone jumped out of the water and punched Sasuke three times in the chest making him cough up blood. They were no ordinary punches. They were punches reinforced with wind chakra with the added strength of Sage Mode. Anyone would be affected by that combination no matter how strong they were. Sasuke was propelled into the air and Naruto suddenly appeared above him with a Rasengan. He connected with Sasuke's back and sent him spiraling into the water.

"It'll be hard even for him to move after that."

Naruto was right. Sasuke resurfaced and was panting roughly. He was gripping his chest in pain but wasn't ready to give up just yet. He stared at Naruto with extreme focus. Naruto wondered what he was up to.

"He can't be giving up. That's not like him. What's he planning?"

"Naruto!" A familiar voiced called to him.

Naruto stood frozen as he recognized the voice right away. He turned around and saw Sakura standing behind him by the water fall. His expression hardened and he seemed to become angry.

"Sasuke you bastard! Leave her out of this! This is our fight!" Naruto shouted at him.

Naruto's clone stood ready to defend Sakura if the time came. But the clone didn't seem to notice what the real thing did. Sasuke didn't say anything. He stood up and vanished the next second. He appeared behind Sakura and grabbed her by the throat.

"Ack! Sa-Sasuke…can't…breathe!" Sakura choked out.

"Sakura!" The clone shouted as it dashed towards them.

Sasuke drew his sword and turned his head to Naruto. Naruto was glaring at him with an intense stare that would make any normal man freeze with fear. But Sasuke was unaffected. He turned back to Sakura and swung his sword at her. But before he could slice her, she dissolved into nothing and he sliced air. He was stunned silent and whipped his head around to see a confused clone and the real Naruto hadn't moved. Sasuke could have sworn there was something different with his eyes but it was too fast to catch and they were back to normal Sage eyes.

"_**Cheater."**_

"_What?" _

"_**You used your new eyes to help you**__."_

"_Oh come on! I just used them to break the genjutsu! You know I suck at that stuff!"_

"_**I could have broken it for you."**_ Kurama said in a mocking voice.

"_Are we really having this conversation?!" _

"_**You still cheated."**_

"_Gahhhhhh!" _ Naruto shouted as he started pulling his hair out.

"How did you do that?"

Naruto was snapped back to reality by Sasuke's voice.

"Do what?"

"Break my genjutsu. The Naruto I knew would never have been able to do that so easily. Much less notice that there was one to begin with."

"I've changed a lot since you last saw me."

"True, especially your eyes. What did you do with them just now?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Yours must be playing tricks on you."

"Funny. But I know there was something different about them."

"I'll let you believe that if you want."

"hmph. It's a shame really. I was looking forward to slicing her in half since you interrupted me the last time."

Naruto was so pissed at that statement that Sasuke didn't even notice him move, grab him by his throat, and slam him into the rock wall by the waterfall. Sasuke coughed in his grip and saw that Naruto's eyes were changing again. Only this time, they were flashing back and forth between Sage eyes and the Kyubi's.

"_**Naruto! Calm down or you're gonna let my power loose!"**_

Naruto didn't respond. He was emitting a low growl and continued to stare at Sasuke while gritting his teeth hard enough for them to be heard grinding against each other.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

Naruto punched him in the face so hard that a piece of the wall behind him cracked and crumbled. He tightened his grip around Sasuke's throat and began punching him in different places. First the stomach, then the face again, next the chest, and so on.

"_**Naruto! Stop it! This isn't the way you want to win! Snap out of it! What happened to doing you're your way!?"**_

Naruto didn't listen and kept punching Sasuke who put up less resistance with each blow. Naruto was about to punch him again when a hand grabbed his arm. He looked to its owner to see who would dare to stop him. It was his clone who stared at him with a look of disappointment. It drew back its fist and punched Naruto in the cheek making him let go of Sasuke and skip across the water a few times. Sasuke fell to the water and began coughing violently and taking deep breaths.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" It yelled at Naruto. "Are you really that weak that you would lose control like that!? This isn't the way we're supposed to do this!"

Naruto snapped out of his anger and it was replaced by the realization of his actions. He stared at his hands and began shaking.

"Wh-what happened to me?" He asked no one in particular.

"_**You went ballistic when Sasuke voiced his displeasure of not being able to kill Sakura the last time you met. I tried to snap you out of it but you wouldn't listen." **_Kurama explained.

The clone turned to Sasuke and offered him his hand. Sasuke looked up at the clone, still taking deep breaths, with one eye squinted shut from the pain. Surprisingly, he took it and the clone helped him up.

"Why did you do that?" Sasuke asked.

"Because this is not the way this fight is supposed to go. He is supposed to rely on his own strength. That's what he promised himself before the battle started. If I hadn't stopped him, he would have killed you."

Sasuke didn't comment on that last part. "So the Kyuubi took control of him again?"

"No. In fact, he tried to stop Naruto, but he wouldn't listen. This fight isn't Kurama's to be a part of."

"Kurama?" Sasuke wondered.

"It's the Kyuubi's real name.

"So those things actually have names? I'm surprised anyone cares."

"You'd be surprised how many people care now after what Naruto did. This world is different thanks to him. But this fight isn't over so I suggest you take this time to recover from that last beating and prepare to continue. My role is done."

With that, the clone vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Sasuke to ponder his words. He looked to the real Naruto who was still shaking.

"Oy. Loser." Sasuke called to him.

Naruto looked up at him in confusion.

"We have a fight to finish. And don't try using Kurama's influence again. You want to win with your own power? You have to control your emotions. You should really take your own advice."

"H-how do you know Kurama's name?"

"Your clone told me everything. And I can tell you right now. You'll never win if you sit there shaking like a scared weakling."

Naruto stood up and composed himself. He smirked at Sasuke. "I'm surprised you're actually admitting I have a chance at winning."

"Don't get your hopes up." Sasuke added. "_I don't want to admit it. But I'm running low on chakra ever since using Susano'o. And that last beating didn't help much either. I don't know how much longer I can go on. At this rate…heh…it looks like I might be going back to the village after all."_

Sasuke made the hand signs for another Chidori. His hand began to glow with lightning once more.

"I'm going to finish this with one attack. Prepare yourself, Naruto."

Naruto's clone jumped from the waterfall next to its creator. Naruto looked to it and the clone nodded. He turned back to Sasuke.

"I don't think so." He said while extending his hand to the clone. "I'm taking you home no matter what. This ends here." He said with a Rasengan now formed.

The clone disappeared to let the two have at each other. It knew it wasn't needed anymore. The two stared each other down one final time before dashing toward the other. A flash back to when they were younger played through their minds. It was the exact same situation. They were running at full speed with their attacks ready to strike. When they brought their arms forward to attack, the flash back ended with the same action taking place with their older counterparts.

"NARUTOOO!" Sasuke yelled

"SASUKEEE!" Naruto shouted.

The attacks collided. "Chidori!" "Rasengan!" They both said at the same time.

A massive wall of water rose up blocking the two from view. The water fell and caused a make shift rain revealing the two struggling against the others signature move. The clash was epic and sparks were flying in random directions. Neither of them were letting up. They stared each other down as they fought to overpower the other. For a while it seemed even, but Naruto's hand was eventually able to push forward. Sasuke winced and yelled out as he pushed forward harder. They were both even again.

"_Sasuke…I've waited so long for this fight. So long to bring you back to the village. I was angry and confused when you left for Orochimaru to gain power. But now, all I feel is sorrow and pain that we had to fight like this. If only I were stronger back then, this wouldn't be happening right now. But…I'm glad…it's finally over."_

Naruto began pushing forward again and overpowering Sasuke. Sasuke knew that he wouldn't be able to fight back anymore. He closed his eyes and smiled.

"_You win…Naruto."_

Naruto forced his arm straight into Sasuke's stomach. The Chidori broke and he was sent spiraling in the opposite direction. After flying a few yards, he slammed into the wall and fell unconscious with a small smile on his face. Naruto panted heavily. He looked at Sasuke's unconscious body and was filled with relief and regret at the same time. His eyes returned to their normal blue color and he dropped to his hands and knees. He had finally beaten Sasuke. He had finally fulfilled his promise to Sakura.

"I…I did it Sakura." He said grinning.

His eyes began to close slowly and he fell unconscious as well. Without the support of his chakra, however, he began to sink into the lake. But before he could get far, Obito grabbed one of his arms and gently lifted him out of the water. He propped Naruto over his shoulder and walked over to where Sasuke was and stared at him.

"Sasuke…you fought well. But there was no chance you could have ever beaten Naruto. He saved the world from one of the strongest ninja known in Shinobi history. He could have easily ended this fight in the beginning if he chose to use Kurama's power. But he fought you with his own strength and proved he didn't need it. I can't begin to understand how happy he feels now that he can bring you home. Heh…I'll bet Kakashi will be thrilled."

He sucked Sasuke up and transported him to his inner world for safe keeping until he returned to the main forces for the Kage to deal with him.

"Naruto, you really are one amazing kid."

Obito began to transport him and Naruto back to their camp.

Xxx

Sasuke grunted and opened his eyes slowly. He was inside a small room made of wood and in a bed. He slowly sat up but winced in pain. He had been covered in bandages all over his body. He looked like a glorified mummy save for his face. He recalled the battle with Naruto and the moment he fell unconscious and smirked.

"Hmph…I'll never hear the end of this from him."

"Hear the end of what?"

Sasuke snapped his head to the direction of the voice and saw that Naruto was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. He was also covered in bandages, but not as much as Sasuke. He then noticed that Naruto was wearing a hospital gown. Upon further inspection, it seemed that he was too.

"Where are we?" Sasuke asked.

"Back in the village…or what's left of it. This is just a make shift hospital room since the real hospital was destroyed."

Sasuke was confused by Naruto's explanation. He looked out the small window that was next to his bed and saw many wooden buildings either fully built, or under construction. He saw what was left of the village and couldn't believe his eyes.

"Wh-what happened here?"

"The village was destroyed by Pein not too long ago. I was able to beat him, but I was too late to prevent this."

"…I don't suppose destroying these small buildings would count as me destroying Konoha, would it?" Sasuke asked jokingly.

"Heh heh. I doubt it. Besides, your chakra and Sharingan have been sealed away to prevent you from doing just that."

"I see. Smart. Still can't trust me right?"

"I don't think you'll be doing anything bad anytime soon. It's the council and Granny Tsunade that think otherwise."

"Figures. Anyway, how long have we been here?"

"About two days. Granny said it would take at least three or four for you to wake up. But I guess even she makes mistakes."

"Just shows you're not as strong as you think."

"Hey! Watch it wiseass! Don't forget who put you in that bed in the first place!" Naurto shouted practically steaming.

"It was a joke you loser. God you're so annoying."

"What'd you say, bastard!"

"Calm down now. We don't need you two popping blood vessels and dying after that big fight."

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked to the door to see Kakashi and Sakura standing in front of it.

"Kakashi-Sensei! Sakura!" Naruto spoke grinning.

"Hmph…" Was all Sasuke muttered.

"Nice to see you too, Sasuke." Kakashi said sweat dropping.

Sakura walked over to Sasuke and hugged him lightly. "It's good to have you back finally."

"Don't tell me you still have that childish crush on me."

A vein popped on Sakura's forehead. She punched Sasuke on top of the head eliciting a yelp of pain from him.

"Oww! What the hell was that for!?" He protested.

"For being an idiot, that's what! I've been over you!"

"Really? What unfortunate sap are you stalking this time?"

*Whack*

"Oww! Oh God why!?"

Kakashi and Naruto both sweat dropped. "Oy…easy Sakura. Don't kill him." They both said in unison.

She huffed and turned her back to Sasuke and crossed her arms. "As it so happens, I'm in love with Naruto now." She stated proudly.

Sasuke started laughing which was a rarity for him. "Bwahahaha! What? Are you serious!? Did she fall for you after you became the big hero?"

Sakura was furious. "Whatever I saw in you I'll never know!" She shouted at him.

She stormed out of the room causing it to shake and could be heard mumbling until she was out of earshot. Sasuke looked to Naruto after things calmed down.

"Seriously though. Is she telling the truth?" He asked.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Heh heh. Yeah. It kinda just happened when I sorta almost died during the war."

"You almost died? Where can I find this person so I can learn from them?"

"Ha ha ya jackass." Naruto said sticking his tongue out at him.

"It wasn't a person. It was the Juubi." Kakashi spoke up. "Naruto attempted to gain the Juubi's favor and ask it to fight for our side instead of Madara's. At first it seemed like the plan didn't work and that it killed him. But instead, it granted Naruto its power and gave him a new set of special eyes. The Triagan."

"The Triagan? Never heard of it."

Sasuke looked to Naruto and Naruto nodded. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, Sasuke witnessed what he thought he had seen during their battle when his genjutsu was broken. He was speechless. He could only stare in amazement. But it was short lived as Naruto returned them to normal.

"That's…Incredible!" Sasuke said.

"Maybe to you. But to me, they're a burden. I thank the Juubi for granting me this power to beat Madara. But now that he's gone, I have no use for them and I'm worried about the people who might want to steal them and use them for their own evil purposes."

"…was that a crack at me?" Sasuke asked.

"No…well…unless you're still evil, then yes. But I mean other lunatics that are bent on world domination. Having this much power is too much of a responsibility for one person. Which is why I swore I would never use them again unless absolutely necessary."

The room fell silent until Kakashi decided to speak up. "I'll go see if the Hokage is willing to let you go out for some lunch with us."

"As long as you're buying." Sasuke added.

"Yeah! Please Kakashi-Sensei!?"

"_I hate them sometimes." _

**End**

**A.N.: Brain…melted. Finally…finished…TT-TT Hey everybody! I hope you enjoyed the story! Don't worry! There's still the Epilogue to come. But as far as this story goes, it's finally over! I'm really sorry this took so long…again. When I was writing this, it was during finals in school and I was over stressed with the amount of work I had to do. By the time finals were over, I had no brain power left to write. So I took a few days off from writing and when I finally got back to it, I read over my outline and script for the chapter and…I thought it sucked. So I changed it to something I thought to be better. Obviously it took time to rewrite, but I finally did it! I really hope you guys enjoyed the chapter…otherwise I changed it for no reason and all my hard work was for nothing. . Haha! Anyway, it's been a long ride with this story. And I'm glad I wrote it. Once again I'd like to thank Mathew1998 for suggesting this story to me and I hope you enjoyed reading it! I also want to thank all of you for putting up with me and sticking with the story all the way through! It means a lot to me! I'm gonna take a short break and get to work on the Epilogue. If there's anything you'd like me to put in it, feel free to suggest something and I'd be happy to add it. Also, don't forget to review and let me know how I did! Your comments and critiques really help and I really appreciate them! Thank you again for reading! Until next time, CYA! **


	7. Epilogue

**Heh hey everybody! Crippleshot13 here to bring you the Epilogue and final piece of the story! It's been great writing it and I'm so thankful to all of you who read it and gave me great reviews! I'm sorry to say that this chapter isn't going to be as long as the others. Just a nice wrap up for the story to leave you all feeling fulfilled. It's sad to see this coming to an end really. When I started out, I never thought I'd be writing a story going on 7 chapters already. I originally planned on doing one shots for a while before I even attempted something like this. But you all have been amazing in supporting me and I'm glad I took the chance with this. Of course, I really hope Mathew1998 likes it considering this story never would have been written if it weren't for him. I won't hold you guys up any longer though. It's time to finish this thing. And to celebrate the occasion, I hired an announcer to start things off! Take it away!**

*****_Announcer* _**Last time, on Dragon Ball Z!**

*****Punches him* **WRONG ANIME! Sigh…It's so hard to find good help these days…anyway, on to the story!**

**Epilogue**

It's been three months since the end of the war and Sasuke's home coming. A lot can happen in three months. With everyone pitching in and Naruto adding a few (thousand) Shadow Clones, the village is almost back to its former glory. Even ninja from the other villages were helping. The Alliance was holding strong and the world was at peace. Of course, there were a few bandits here and there who didn't get the message. The bandits were running through the woods with sacks of cash and chuckling evilly at how easy a score they had made.

"I can't believe those Leaf Village guys were such idiots! A village full of ninja and not one of them noticed that we swiped all their cash out from under them!" One bandit said.

This bandit was tall and lanky. He also had a thin face with a sharp nose and thin eyes. He wore a brown shirt and shorts. He seemed to struggle the most with carrying his bag.

"Heh heh, yeah. What a bunch of losers." Another bandit said.

This one was more built, but with fat instead of muscle. He had a round face with a fat nose and big eyes. He wore the same outfit as his friend.

"Don't celebrate just yet. We're not out of the woods until…we're out of the woods." The last one said.

This was the leader of the three. He was in front of the other two leading the way. This bandit was muscular and more fit for fighting than the other two. He had a normal shaped head and normal features as well. He also wore the same clothes as the other two.

"Right. Sorry boss." The tall one said.

"Duhh yeah. Sorry." The fat one added.

"Well I do have to agree with ya. That was easy. They must be a real bunch of morons to let three regular guys swipe all their money and get away clean."

"Who exactly are morons?" Came a female voice from in the trees.

The three bandits stopped running and looked around for the source of the voice.

"Who is it? Show yourself coward!" The leader of the group commanded.

A blur swooped down from the trees and landed a few feet in front of the men revealing that the source of the voice was Sakura.

"You know, if us Leaf Ninja are such morons like you say, you must have left that trail of money for us to follow on purpose so we'd know where to find you." She stated sarcastically.

"Boss! She's a Leaf ninja!" The lanky bandit stated.

"I can see that, dumbass! Any other obvious facts you'd like to point out?"

"Duhh…the fact that we did actually leave a money trail?" The fat one said.

The leader looked behind him to see that two sets of money trails were lying on the forest ground. He began to get really angry and looked to his cohorts.

"YOU IDIOTS! YOU'VE BEEN LETTING YOUR CASH FALL OUT OF YOUR BAGS THIS WHOLE TIME!" The leader exploded.

The two lackeys flinched in fear of their boss's sudden outburst. They each got to their knees and bowed in front of him.

"We're so sorry, boss!" They said in unison.

"You've got a pair of grade A losers there, don't you?" Another voice came from the trees.

"What!? Another one!?" The leader said.

Sasuke dropped from his spot atop the branches and landed behind them. Cutting them off from the front and back now.

"Damnit! Look what you shitheads have done! You led them right to us!"

"Actually, we've been following you ever since you left. You weren't hard to tail."

The bandit leader was enraged now. "That's it! Get up now and kill them!"

"B-but boss, we don't stand a chance! They'll kill us!" The fat one said.

"Yeah! We should just give up and give the money back!" His partner said.

"Either you fight them and they kill you, or I'll kill you both myself!"

"Wow. Great guy." Sakura said.

The two got off the ground and sighed. The fat one faced Sakura and the tall one turned to Sasuke. They were trembling but both charged at their respective opponent yelling like mad men.

"Well, we warned them." Sakura noted.

She pulled back her fist and swung at the fat bandit's stomach as soon as he got close enough to her. She landed the punch in his stomach. The bandit's eyes popped from their sockets and he let out a painful squeal. He flew towards a tree and broke through it at the rate of speed the punch sent him flying and hit another one. This time the tree didn't break and he slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Tch. Pathetic." Sasuke added.

As the tall bandit approached him, he sidestepped and chopped at his neck. The bandit had no time for a reaction because he fell face first into the ground in an instant after the attack. His butt was still sticking up in the air and he too fell unconscious.

"Grrr...You bastards won't get away with this!" The leader shouted.

"Oh give it a rest will ya?" A new voice came.

"How many of you are there!?" He started panicking.

The new figure jumped down and landed facing away from the bandit. He started to panic even more and fell to the ground in fear.

"No! i-it can't be! Yo-you're dead!" He stuttered.

The person in front of him was wearing the Fourth Hokage's robe and had the same blonde hair.

"Heh. I get that a lot." The Supposed Hokage said.

He turned around and revealed a younger lookalike to the Fourth. His son, Naruto.

"Wh-what? You're not the Fourth Hokage!"

"That's right. I'm the Seventh…well…Six if you don't count that ass Donzo. But you get the picture." Naruto explained.

"No way! There's no way a kid like you can be the Hokage!"

The bandit got up and took out a knife from his pocket. "I'll kill you first, imposter!"

He rushed him, but Naruto didn't budge. He just stood there smirking at him.

"Die!" The bandit shouted as he thrust his knife at Naruto.

Naruto just raised his arm and knocked the knife out of the bandit's hand and it deflected into a tree. The leader stood frozen in fear and backed away slowly. Naruto started walking toward him and his expression turned serious. He flashed in front of him and punched him in the stomach. The bandit limped over in pain but Naruto caught him and leaned up to his ear.

"That's for stealing from my village."

A shadow clone appeared and Naruto held out his hand. "And this, is for insulting my people."

The clone formed the Rasengan and dispersed. Naruto tossed the leader in the air and slammed the Rasengan into his stomach. The bandit let out a blood curdling scream as the Rasengan tore away at his clothes and flesh. He started to slowly rotate and then spiraled away into the forest, breaking a few trees along the way. Naruto stood up and smiled.

"Well, that takes care of that." He said happily.

"Yes it does. But there's one other question I have." Sasuke stated.

"What the hell are you doing here, Naruto!?" Sakura asked enraged at his presence.

Naruto stepped back out of fear. "S-Sakura c-calm down please."

"I will not! You're the Hokage now! You can't just leave the village whenever you want to have some fun! She shouted at him. Why did you send us in the first place if you were just gonna come yourself!?"

Sasuke could have sworn he saw naruto shrink a few feet in terror. "She's right, loser. You have responsibility now."

"B-but I just wanted to see the money returned personally, that's all." Naruto said poking his two index fingers together.

"_**Bull shit. You just don't like being cooped up in that small office."**_ Kurama interjected.

"_Shut it you damn fox!"_

"I should have known you becoming Hokage was a bad idea." Sasuke said.

"Watch it! It's this Hokage that ordered the removal of your seals so you could be a ninja again!" Naruto shot back.

"I didn't realize that made you my master."

"You wanna fight, bastard!?"

"Maybe I do!"

Both of them got in each other's face and growled at the other. Sparks were flying from their eyes and they were about ready to let loose. Until a pair of fists knocked each of them on top of the head.

"OWW!" The both yelled at the same time.

"Will you two behave and act your age!?" Sakura shouted at them.

Either she doubled in size or Sasuke and Naruto shrunk in fear. Either way they nodded vigorously and Sakura calmed down.

"Well you're here now so there's nothing that can be done about it. Let's just get the money and go."

"Right. Sasuke, pick up the trail of money they left behind."

"Wh-why me!?"

"Because I'm Hokage and I said so!"

"No way! Do it yourself! You're not even supposed to be here! It's the least you can do!"

"Do it or I'll have you thrown in jail!"

Sasuke grumbled and couldn't argue with that and started picking up the money trail. Sakura covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head. Sasuke was mumbling curses at Naruto under his breath. As he went to pick up another piece of cash, Naruto picked it up instead. Sasuke looked at him confused and saw that he already had a pile of money in his free hand. Naruto smiled at him.

"Like I'd let you do it alone." He said.

Sasuke smirked and kept picking up whatever he could manage. Sakura smiled at the site of the now renewed best friends. She picked up two of the sacks and asked if one of them could get the other. Naruto made a clone to carry the last bag and three more clones to carry the bandits back to the village. After about an hour, they finally made it back to the village with all of its money back safe. They approached the guard hut by the entrance and dropped the three bandits with the guards.

"Izumo, Kotetsu, make sure these guys are escorted to prison. Have the interrogation unit sent to find out if they have any more accomplices or spies hiding anywhere in the village." Naruto ordered.

"Yes sir!" They both said.

They dragged the bandits off as ordered. Naruto Sakura and Sasuke were walking back to the Hokage tower when Sasuke decided to bring up a question.

"Why did you really come, Naruto? It couldn't have been out of sheer boredom."

"Heh you got me. When I sent you guys after them, I couldn't help but feel like something was missing. I guess I wanted to know what it felt like to be a team again, you know?"

Sakura gigged. "I guess it did feel nice acting like a team after all these years."

"Hmph. I could have been by myself and I would have been fine with that."

"Not everyone can be as depressing as you Sasuke." Naruto said sweatdropping.

"Ha ha." He mock laughed.

Naruto and Sakura laughed while Sasuke brooded like he normally did. They reached Naruto's office and just as he was about to open the door, it flew off its hinges and he was caught behind it as if it were a disappearing act. He and the door slammed into the wall across the hall. Both Sasuke and Sakura looked inside the office to see what caused the terrifying act to see Tsunade with her foot where the door used to be. She slammed it to the floor causing the whole building to shake and stomped over to where Naruto was. Sasuke and Sakura both gladly moved out of her path as she came stomping by, ignoring them in the process. She reached the door which was still standing upright and grasped the knob. She opened it like she would a normal door and revealed Naruto implanted in the wall with his eyes replaced by swirls.

"Naruto! So nice of you to drop by!" Tsunade greeted almost too cheerfully.

She then grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up to her face giving him the most dark and evil stare and smile known to mankind.

"Do you have any idea what your little disappearing act has caused?" She asked in a very deep and menacing voice.

Naruto was sweating bullets and couldn't find the courage to speak. All he managed to do was shake his head.

"Because of you leaving the village like that, I had to step in and take care of all the client requests and the handing out of missions to YOUR ninja! It was on such short notice that there were backups with everything and it took hours to regulate! Oh but don't worry. I saved the best part for you." She said the last part wickedly.

She gestured for him to look in his office. He peaked by her shoulder and stared inside. His jaw dropped about halfway to the floor and he let out a terrified shriek. Inside his office, there was giant stack of paperwork on and surrounding his desk on the floor.

"I saved every bit of paper work just for you. Aren't I so generous? WELL!?" She yelled

Naruto nodded at superhuman speed so she wouldn't punch him.

"Thank you!" She said smiling cheerfully again. "Now while you handle that, I'm gonna kick my feet up and relax while having some sake and watching you do it all." She said as she walked back into the office and pulled up a chair.

Naruto dropped to his knees and turned white as a ghost while staring at the monstrosity in on his desk. Sasuke and Sakura both walked up to him and stared as well. Sasuke turned to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Welp, looks like you've got everything handled here. I'll be going now."

"What!? You're leaving me!?" Naruto yelped. He turned to Sakura and stared at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Sorry babe. But I've got a shift at the hospital coming up. And with Lady Tsunade sticking around, they're gonna be short staffed."

Naruto began to cry a river of tears and whimpered at the fact that he'd be spending the rest of the day with two of his most feared enemies. A mountain of paperwork, and a pissed off Granny.

"Eh, I'm sure the greatest Hokage ever can handle this easily. Later." Sasuke said as he waved.

"BITE MEEEE!" Naruto shouted after him.

"I gotta go too, Naruto. I'll see you tonight for our dinner date. I'm sure you'll be done by then."

She gave him a small peck on the cheek and walked off. He watched her disappear around the corner and turned his attention to his office. He gulped and walked to his desk, dreading the site of the giant mass covering it. He sat down in his chair and strained his neck to see the top of the stacks. Tsunade took another chug from her sake bottle.

"Ahhhh. That's some good booze. Want some?"

"I'm technically still too young to drink."

"Ha! Wimp! You're the Hokage! You can drink if you want!"

She was obviously drunk to insinuate that he could basically do whatever he wanted since he was the Hokage. If that were the case, why did she make such a big deal about him going off with his old team?

"I'm fine Granny. I'll just get to work now."

"Suit yourself." She said as she took another swig.

Naruto started stamping papers while he grumbled about how stupid paper work is. Then he got an idea.

"I know! I'll use Shadow Clones to get this done faster! I'm a genius!"

"Use a single clone and I'll castrate you."

Naruto went back to stamping as fast as he could to avoid Tsunade's wrath. She laughed at how easy he was to scare as she uncorked another bottle.

"_You'll never get anywhere as Hokage if you take the easy way out. So long as I'm around, I'll teach you the right way. I promise."_ She thought to herself.

"Pick up the pace, Lord Hokage. You don't want to upset your girlfriend by missing your date, do you?"

Naruto somehow sped up his stamping and everything became a blur. Tsunade chuckled and drank some more of her sake thinking about how great a Hokage Naruto would be someday.

Xxx

"OK, I'm clocking out now!" Sakura said to a nurse.

"Have a good night, Sakura! See you tomorrow!" The nurse replied.

Sakura waved and headed for the exit. As she walked out the door, she spotted her boyfriend standing at the bottom of the steps with a bouquet of roses. She smiled and ran down to him, enveloping him in a tight hug. He returned it and made sure to watch the flowers so they didn't get ruined. The broke the hug and Sakura took the flowers.

"They're beautiful, Naruto." She said while smelling them.

"Then they're perfect for a beautiful girl like you."

Sakura blushed and wrapped her arm around his. "Thank you, Naruto."

They started walking and Sakura leaned her head on Naruto's arm and closed her eyes.

"Work was a killer. My feet feel like they're gonna fall off." She said.

"You're one to talk. I though one of my arms were gonna go flying off at the speed I was stamping those papers."

Sakura giggled. "Yeah. I guess you did have it a little worse."

They both laughed as they continued walking. Sakura then brought up the subject of their dinner.

"So where are you taking me tonight?"

"Would you be mad if I said Ichiraku?"

"Pissed." She said in a teasing voice.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not taking you there."

"Really, then where?"

"Well, I got us a reservation at the best restraint in the village with a rooftop table so we could watch the sun set. How does that sound?"

"That sounds amazing and romantic! I can't believe you'd go to all that trouble for me!"

"Nothing is too troublesome when it comes to you, sweetheart."

Sakura stopped Naruto and turned him around for a passionate kiss. He gladly returned it and they stayed like that for about a minute. After they broke apart, Sakura hugged him again.

"You're the best. I couldn't ask for anyone better than you, Naruto."

"And I couldn't ask for anyone besides you period."

They separated and started walking toward the restraint again. Sakura brought up the mission from earlier that day again.

"Despite the way I treated you when you showed up, it was really nice having you there."

"Thanks. It's a shame I had to send Kakashi-Sensei on a mission before that though. I would have loved to have all four of us there."

"Well knowing you, I'm sure this won't be your last trip on a mission with us. There will be plenty of times to get us together again."

"Haha! You're right! But for now, It's all about you and me."

Naruto stopped walking and Sakura noticed that they were at their destination. He opened the door and held out his hand for her.

"Shall we?" He asked.

She smiled and took it. "Let's."

A waiter greeted them and showed them to their private rooftop special. They ordered their food and the waiter bowed as he left the two alone. The sunset was beautiful. The sky was a mixture of orange and pink and blue with a red sun topping it all off. It wasn't the tallest building in the village, but it definitely had its own special view. They spent their time talking about how their day at work was while they waited for their food. Sakura told Naruto how it was a really slow day and that she mostly walked from room to room checking in on patient's conditions. He told her about how Tsunade was gonna castrate him if he had used a single clone to help do the paper work. She couldn't stop laughing after hearing that. Their food eventually came and they spent the rest of their meal talking about back in the day with Team 7 and things like their survival exam with Kakashi and the Chuunine exams. The sun had set and they finished their dinner. The waiter insisted that Naruto not pay since he was the Hokage and so he agreed. But he made up for it by giving the waiter a tip equal to the amount of the bill. The waiter was so stunned he couldn't even argue. The two left and were ready to call it a night.

"Hey, why don't you stay at my place tonight? I'd love the company." Naruto asked.

Sakura was surprised at the invitation. "Uhh…sure. But you never invite me to stay over. What's so different about today?"

"Dunno. Just thought it was time I asked I supposed."

"OK then! Lead the way!" She said excitedly.

She wraped her hand in his and they walked to his apartment. Although, Naruto had taken her to a completely different place.

"Where are we? This isn't your apartment." She stated.

"I moved out of there. Turns out my parents lived here when my dad was the Hokage. So I thought I'd switch places and live here."

"Wow! Your parents lived here!? That's so cool!"

Naruto took out a key and unlocked the door. He held it open for Sakura to step inside and she looked around. The walls were yellow just like Naruto's hair. It was pretty spacious. Definitely an improvement from his old place. As she walked around admiring the décor, she noticed a picture on a shelf. She picked it up and giggled. It was a picture of Minato hugging Kushina from behind while Kushina held her pregnant stomach. They looked so happy. It almost hurt Sakura to look at it knowing what happened to them. Naruto had told her the story of how they died and she couldn't help but feel sad for him.

"So? What do you think?" He asked her.

"It's a really nice place. It's a lot better than your messy old apartment." She joked.

"It wasn't THAT messy!" He protested.

"Please. Don't even try to deny it. You're a slob and you know it."

He didn't bother arguing because he knew he'd lose. He just laughed and rubbed his neck.

"OK OK you win. I'm a slob."

She walked over to him and hugged him. "Yes. But you're my slob."

She looked around the place again. She really liked it. She was glad Naruto asked her to stay the night.

"It's really nice here. I wish I could live here."

"Then why don't you?" He asked seriously.

Sakura focused her attention back to him. "W-what? What do you mean?"

"I mean, why not stay and live with me?"

"Bu-but Naruto, this is so sudden! I mean I just moved into my own place and-"

She was cut off by Naruto placing his index finger on her lips. He stared into her eyes and she felt like she would melt if she stared any longer.

"You don't need to worry about your place. I can have it taken care of. Besides…"

He paused and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a small black box and Sakura could only gasp at assuming what it meant.

"I want you here with me. I can't stand to be apart from you any longer."

He knelt down on one knee and opened the box, revealing the most bright and beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen. She brought her hands to her mouth and her knees were shaking.

"Will you marry me, Sakura?"

She didn't hesitate. "Yes! Oh God yes!" She shouted as she tackled him to the floor.

Naruto let out a yelp as he hit and could feel the life being squeezed out of him but lost that feeling as Sakura kissed him with everything she had. He returned it and held her close to him. Tears began to fall from her eyes. It was the happiest moment of her life. And she knew that it must hold a lot of sentimental value to Naruto considering that this was where his parents lived, and where he could have lived a lot sooner. They broke for air and sat up. Sakura was still crying out of joy and Naruto laughed. He helped her up and wiped away the tears for her. After she could sit still, he placed the ring on her finger. She just stared at it in awe.

"It's so beautiful, Naruto. I love it."

"I'm glad. Because it wasn't cheap. Even for me." He joked.

Sakura giggled again and then yawned. She was obviously ready to sleep.

"I'll set up the bed for you. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No no. That won't do. Now that we're engaged, there's no reason we can't sleep together." She said in a seductive voice.

Naruto gulped. "B-b-b-b-but what about your night clothes? You never stopped by your house to get them."

She started walking toward the bedroom. She turned back to him and gave him a sexy smile.

"That's OK. I don't wear clothes to bed."

Naruto's nose began to drip with blood. Sakura smirked and turned back around and strutted into the bedroom.

"_**Damn kit! Who knew you could be so smooth!"**_ Kurama spoke, snapping Naruto out of his daze.

"_What just happened?" _Naruto asked him.

"_**You just got the girl of your dreams to get in bed with you, that's what! What are you doing talking to me!? Get in there!"**_

Naruto covered his nose and followed immediately. Even though his dream girl had just seduced him in a matter of seconds, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he forgot something a while back.

Xxx

There was a dark cave hidden in the forest a few hundred miles from the Leaf Village. It was pitch black and felt eerie. Water could be heard dripping form the cave ceiling. Inside the cave it got even darker. Especially as it went further down. At the bottom of the cave there could be heard a soft moan. The kind of moan that would give even the toughest of shibnoi goosebumps. A small light turned on and broke the darkness. It shone on nothing at first, but then a terrifying face slowly made its way into the light.

"They forgot about me." Captain Yamato said. The light began to flicker and it burned out.

**The End**

**A.N.: It's finally over! The Juubi's Decision has come to a close! I hope you all enjoyed the epilogue! I had a lot of fun writing it! Haha! The whole story was so serious that I just had to take a different approach to it at the end. It's kind of bittersweet really. This is my first extended story and it feels so weird ending it after so long. But unfortunately, it couldn't last forever. I just hope I left it at a point where all of you loved reading it and enjoyed the ride as much as I did. I'm bad with analogies. Sue me =.=. Haha! Thank you all for your continued support! It means a lot to me and it really motivates me to get things done a lot faster for you. Even when I'm not in control of the time I can put into it. I want to make sure you guys are happy most of all! I know I've done this a lot but thank you to Mathew1998 because this wouldn't have been possible without him! Remember that I do still take requests and would be happy to write a story you suggest! I received a suggestion a while back from King Nintendo for another one shot so I'll focus on that mainly for now, but please suggest some if you have anything you want me to write! Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole! I look forward to reading them! This is Crippleshot13 and I thank you all once again! Until next time, CYA!**


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